Unwanted Dreams
by theD0ct0rD0nna
Summary: Saito has a new job for Cobb and the gang. During this job will Eames find his match in the mark? That's right its Eames's turn to have a chance at love!
1. Chapter 1

"Phillipa will you help your brother set the table?" Dom picked up the phone right before it stopped ringing. "Yeah hello?"

"Hello Cobb," responded a familiar voice. Dom tensed at the sound.

"Saito. It's been a while. I haven't heard from you since…"

"Since the Fischer job, I know. How have you been Cobb?"

"What do you want Saito?" Dom didn't want to play games. Saito laughed.

"Always the business man. I'll get to the point then. I have another job for you."

"No. I have a real job now."

"A real job," Saito mocked. "You are an Extractor Cobb. _That_ is your real job."

"I have to think of my kids." Dom looked to his two little angels. A crease between his brows formed. He didn't want to think about leaving them for years. Not again.

"Don't worry. This job is in the U.S. You won't have to be far from them." Dom thought hard about this. He knew the money would be good, coming from Saito. The job was in the U.S. so he wouldn't have to go overseas. Their grandmother could look after them. He had built up a lot of vacation time in his job. Dom had to admit that he missed going into a dream world, mostly because he didn't and couldn't dream anymore.

"What kind of job is it?"

"My business partner has gotten himself into some trouble it seems. There are some dangerous people looking for him. They want to ruin him, destroy him, get rid of him in any way possible."

"So what do you want me to do about it? It's not my problem that some yuppie got himself a death warrant."

"Well you see his daughter knows all the secrets about the family. They would most likely go after her first. Try to get information out of her. Now I could care less about my partner but this girl….She is like a daughter to me. I would hate to see her get hurt or killed for her father's idiocy and foolishness."

Cobb understood immediately. "You want me to teach her how to protect her mind."

"Yes. Teach her how to keep track of reality and safe guard those secrets."

Cobb agreed to the job. Saito told him to assemble his team and be ready to go to Washington, D.C. After talking with Saito, Dom made the calls to his team, broke the news to his kids, got them set up with their grandmother, called work, and packed. At the airport Dom met up with Arthur, his Point Man, and Ariadne, his Architect.

Together the three of them flew into Washington. A limo picked them up and began to drive without any instructions. Arthur, Ariadne, and Dom were driven through beautiful neighborhoods. Expensive homes flew by them as they drove. Soon they arrived at a large iron gate that opened as they got closer. Security was heavy. Men with guns stood all over the beautiful property. K-9 units searched the grounds, some of the dogs barking at the car as it went by. The driver pulled up to the front of the house and parked the car.

The three got out and followed the driver, as he carried their bags into the large extravagant house. In the large foyer they met up with the last two pieces of the team. Eames and Yusuf were looking around the large area in awe. They all exchanged hellos and hugs upon seeing each other.

"Gentlemen and miss," said a woman coming into the foyer. "I am glad you all are here safely. It is my pleasure to welcome you all to the Hareton estate."

"Pleasure is all ours," Eames said with a wink to the woman. She giggled like a teenager. Realizing how she had acted, the woman cleared her throat and straightened out her skirt out of nervousness.

"If you will follow me please."

"Do you always have to be like that?" Ariadne asked Eames as they were all lead down a long hallway.

"Like what?"

"Charming." Eames smiled. He placed a hand on her back as he leaned down to give her an answer.

"It comes with the territory my dearest." Ariadne smiled and shook her head. Typical Eames.

The group followed the woman down the hallway until they came to a large oak door. She opened it and gestured for them to wait for a moment.

"Sir? Mr. Saito's people have arrived."

"Good send them in and fetch my daughter," answered the man not looking up from his paper. The woman stepped back out and gestured for them to enter. Eames, the last one to enter the room, gave her a devilish smile as he passed. Once again she giggled like a teenage girl and felt embarrassed.

The five of them entered yet another lavish room of the extravagant home. In front of them was a wall of glass and a stone fireplace. A warm fire danced and licked the sides of the stone. A long L shaped couch was across from the fireplace, where a man sat reading the paper. The man remained on the couch, not bothering to stand to greet them, his back to them as they entered. They all assembled in front of the glass wall and waited to be recognized.

"Ah you must be Saito's men," the man said finally. He folded the paper and set it on a side table. Arthur huffed.

"We're our own team. Saito doesn't own us." The man looked at Arthur eyebrows raised.

"I meant no offence boy. Saito recommended you for this particular job and I just assumed…"

"Well it's not very wise to assume is it?" The man sat still, looking at Arthur with dangerous eyes. Dom sighed and looked to his longtime friend and partner. He gave him a warning look before turning back to their host.

"You'll have to excuse Arthur. He has very strong beliefs about being one's own person." Dom smiled apologetically.

The man laughed. "That's all well and good. Just keep a hold of your sharp tongue boy."

"Yes boy," said Eames under his breath. "Do keep track of that tongue."

Arthur glared daggers at the cocky Forger. Ariadne took hold of Arthur's hand and gave it a squeeze. He looked down to her and gave her hand a gentle squeeze back. That was one reason why Arthur loved Ariadne so much. She kept him in check and could calm him with the simplest of ways. A touch, a look, a smile, one word. That's all it took.

The man got up from the couch and made his way closer to the team. "My name is Alan Hareton." They introduced themselves as he went down the line shaking their hands.

"So what is the job exactly?" asked Yusuf, who had been very quiet until now.

"Well I would like to wait to explain until my daughter is present."

"I'm here so there is no need to wait any longer." They all looked to the oak door to see a young woman entering. "You _summoned_ me?"

"Ah," said Alan. He held out his arm as a gesture for her to come to his side. The girl walked over reluctantly. "Everyone this is my daughter Nicole Alexandra Hareton the fourth," he announce proudly.

Alan squeezed his daughter to his side. She winced as her arms dug into her sides. "They don't need the whole title for God sake."

Alan's proud smile dropped off his face as she tried to wiggle free. "Yes well, this is Mr. Cobb and his…I mean _the _team." Alan directed his gaze to Arthur as he corrected himself.

Dom stepped forward to shake her hand. "Nicole it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Please call me Cole," she said shaking his hand. Dom nodded and took a step back. "So what is going on?"

Alan offered for everyone to have a seat before things began. Once they were all comfortable the job was explained. Alan told of his recent run in with some sketchy people. Without going into too many details, he explained how it had come to them wanting to 'get rid' of him.

"So you see," he concluded. "My daughter is a kind of family vault. I am worried that these people might try to get to me through Cole. I would like you to teach her the ways."

"I'm sorry," interrupted Cole. "_The ways_? What exactly are we talking about?" Dom stepped in here. He explained the rules and aspects of dream security and how each person of the team would be able to train her in specific ways. They would teach her how to secure her mind from other people like them.

"We are the most skilled at these tasks. We will be able to teach you every trick and every maze you will need to know."

Cole nodded. "I see. Well the answer is no."

"No?" Dom looked at her father and then back to her. "What do you mean no?"

"I'm sorry to have wasted your time," she said standing. "But I am not going through with this."

"Nicole Alexandra!" her father stood as she began to walk to the door.

"Cole please," Dom said standing as well. She stopped and turned to face him. "You must understand that we'd be doing this to help keep you and your family safe."

"I do understand Mr. Cobb. Trust me I do. Now you need to understand something." She walked a little closer so her voice wouldn't echo so much in the large room. "Like my father said, I am like a family vault. I am not about to let you and your team of strangers waltz around in my head."

"Young lady," her father hissed. She glanced to him and then back to Dom.

"See I not only have my own very personal secrets in here," she said pointing to her head. "I have secrets about my family that they don't even know about. If any of these secrets were made public…"

Alan tried to chastise her again but she cut him off with emphasis on the last words.

"They could blow the lid off of this family. Everyone, including myself, would be royally screwed. The Hareton name would be disgraced and without that good name we are shit out of luck."

Dom took a step forward. "We wouldn't let that happen. You can trust us."

Something about the way he spoke, the way his associates all looked, and the way the situation had panned out. Cole looked Dom and the rest over once more. She sighed.

"Nicole Alexandra you will do as I say! If you don't so help me…"

"Put a cork in it!" she snapped. Eames, Arthur, and Yusuf tried hard to hold in a laugh.

"Respect your father!"

"Give me a thou in cash and we'll talk," Cole snapped again at her father. "As for the training…when do we start?" she asked Dom.

"Immediately tomorrow."

"Then I will see you all bright and early." She nodded to Dom and the rest before leaving the room.

The next morning Cobb and the others were told they could set up in an unused study. Each had their own little section of the room. Each team member would teach Cole how to create mazes to escape in, keep her secrets hidden, make her own formula for going under, and how to deal with projections. As Eames helped set up he wondered what his role was in all this. Was he just to teach her how to shift into different people?

A man entered the study with trays of food. The trays were set out and breakfast was served. Everyone ate blissfully, not remembering the last time they had a meal like this. Eames especially enjoyed a good meal since he was on the run, moving from place to place, all the time. He never really had time for anything like this. He set down his coffee cup and sat back. He looked up to meet Dom's eyes.

Dom tugged his head toward the door. Eames understood and got up. He walked out into the hallway and waited for Dom to follow.

"Something the matter boss?" Eames asked as Dom joined him.

"I wanted to talk to you about something. I need you to study Cole."

"Study her? You mean learn her so I can shift?" Dom nodded. "Why would I need to shift into her?"

"I want you to teach her but I also need to have a backup. In the unlikely case something happens you would be able to run interference while we get Cole out." Eames put his hands on his waist and shifted his weight. "I also need you to stay with her at night."

"What?"

"She will be the most vulnerable when she sleeps. If you're there to watch her and keep track of her she'll be safer."

"So now I'm a baby sitter? Are you punishing me Cobb?"

"I'm not punishing you. Now look, I need you Eames. By looking after her and studying her helps me out a lot. We are supposed to keep this girl safe."

"I certainly hope you can." Dom and Eames looked to see Cole standing in front of them.

"Do you always appear out of nowhere? How long have you been standing there?" Eames asked.

"For most of it. So you and I are gonna have a sleep over hu? Fun." She smiled sarcastically at them as she passed by.

"I can already tell she is going to be a pain in my ass," Eames said pointing in her direction.

"Well you guys should get along great then." Dom patted Eames on the shoulder and walked back into the study. Cole was already talking to the others. They had introduced themselves and explained a little of what they do.

"Are you ready?" Dom asked her.

"Ready for what? Aren't you going to explain some stuff?"

Dom shook his head. "We're going to dive right in."


	2. Chapter 2

"…that is one way you can always tell if you're in a dream," Dom finished saying. They were walking through the gardens outside. Guards kept track of them while others went around with their K-9 dogs.

"That seems like a bad way to keep track of it. I mean what if you're a forgetful person? What if you can't even remember what you had for breakfast? I mean if you're like that then how will you be sure if you're in the middle of the dream or not?"

"Well do you remember what you had for breakfast?"

"Cereal."

"Do you remember how we got here? How we started the conversation?"

Cole rolled her eyes. "Of course I do. We just…we…" She looked around her. How had they gotten out into the garden?

"See," Dom said. Cole's shoulders slumped as she tried to figure it out. "Now another way to keep track is a totem. Arthur will explain that to you."

"We're in a dream?"

"That's right."

"Who's? Yours or mine?" She looked around still trying to process everything.

"Think."

"Mine. We're in my head." Dom nodded. Cole smiled. "Cool. So why didn't you tell me about this before we went under?"

"I want you to get a feel for your mind. To understand the layout and the way it feels. I wanted you to have clear thoughts. If I had told you anything before then you would have been clouded and confused. It might have been chaos and I'm not going into a mind like that and neither should you."

"Got it." They began to walk back towards the house. Dom opened the door for her and closed it behind himself.

"You have a great mind Cole. There's a lot of attention to detail. You would make a good architect." Dom looked around the foyer they were standing in.

Cole shook her head. Something was wrong. "This isn't my house," she said a little nervously. Dom looked at her confused. "I mean it is but…I haven't lived here since I was little."

Dom looked around. She was right. He hadn't noticed but the decoration of the house was different. The walls, the color, the feel. She had placed them somewhere different. A vase fell from a shelf and hit the floor, the house began to shake. Dom looked at Cole to see her ringing her hands.

"Stay calm. Everything is okay. Is this a memory of yours?" Cole nodded, a frightened look on her face. "Lesson one, never use memories. It will make the Extractor's job very easy if you do. Create new places for yourself."

"I can't," she whispered. Dom looked at her with concern. She was worried and scared. He took her hand in his. She looked up to him.

"It's alright. Just let it play out." He looked at his watch. They had five minutes left in the dream state, which meant only a few seconds in real life. "We'll be out soon."

"Cole," came a voice. She gasped and the both turned to see a woman standing in the doorway across from them. The woman was beautiful and dressed very nicely. Her hands were behind her back, making Dom feel a little uneasy.

"Mom?"

"Merry Christmas Cole. Come give mommy a hug." She stretched her arms out, revealing her hands. One held a knife while the other had some red substance on it. Dom looked the woman over again. A huge gash went across the woman's stomach.

Cole shook her head. The woman's face grew angry. "Give your mother a hug." She came towards them, the knife ready to strike. Cole tightened her grip on Dom's hand and dragged him up the staircase. Her mother was right on their trail. Cole found her old room and shut the door. Her mother stabbed at the door and tried to open it. She yelled and screamed for Cole to come out.

"Leave me alone!" Cole backed away from the door, leaving Dom to hold it closed. Cole backed up into a corner and put her hands over her ears. The room began to shake with Cole's distress.

"Cole," Dom begged. "Just stay calm."

"I want to wake up! I want to wake up!"

"Cole!" Dom lost his grip on the door handle and the door went flying open. Cole's mother stabbed Dom and pushed his body to the side. Cole screamed and tried to back up even more into the corner. Her mother descended on her and plunged the knife into her daughter.

Cole's eyes burst open. She shot up in the chair coughing. Dom came quickly to her side. Cole began tearing at the wristband and needle in her arm. Yusuf held her by the shoulders while Ariadne tried to get the needle out. Dom held Cole's hands still.

Once everything was off her, Cole got up and began heading to the door.

"Where are you going?" Dom looked to Eames, telling him with his eyes to block the doorway.

"I'm not doing this!" Cole stood in front of Eames waiting for him to move. She spun around to face the rest of them. "You should have told me! You shouldn't have let me go in there blind!"

"You needed to have a clear head. I told you that."

"I can still feel the knife going into me!"

"Is Mal back?" Yusuf asked quietly. Arthur smacked him in the back of the head. It was a good thing Dom was focused on trying to get Cole to calm down. Mal was still a touchy subject.

"She tried to kill me Cobb. My mom…she tried…before she offed herself." Cole's breathing had become heavy and her complexion became very pale. She began to shake a little. Her knees wobbled and she began to drop. Eames caught her before she could hit the floor.

Cole rested again Eames's body as he gave her full support. A pleasant smell came off Cole as he held onto her. It wasn't anything manufactured. It wasn't from a store. It wasn't anything you could buy. It was just pure Cole. Eames took in a breath of that scent, the girl's body moving with his chest. Cole turned her head a little towards him, wondering what he was doing.

"You're stressing yourself out," Arthur said. "You should sit down and take it easy."

Eames helped her over to a couch. Ariadne got her some water. Dom sat by Cole on the couch.

"We can help you lock every bad memory, every secret, away where they will never be found." Cole shook her head.

"I can't go back in there. Not now." Dom nodded.

"I wouldn't ask you to. Right now you're just going to train with Ariadne." Ariadne smiled kindly at her. Cole nodded. She stood with help from Arthur.

The two girls worked on how to create mazes. Ariadne showed Cole how to make complicated patterns and had her try to solve them. Cole learned very quickly and was soon creating her own complex structures. They worked all day on the structures and ideas of architecture. While the girls did this, the boys found ways to keep themselves busy. Cobb called his kids, Yusuf and Arthur watched TV, and Eames flirted with her father's assistant. Cole took note of this before going back to her lesson with Ariadne.

By the end of the lesson the two girls were talking about all the unique and creative structures they could think of. Dinner was brought in and set up in the study. Ariadne and Cole kept talking as they sat down with the boys to eat.

"What about something with a Victorian style mixed with a Colosseum," Cole said, using her hands to help her explain. Ariadne, after taking a sip from the glass in front of her, agreed excitedly.

"Mhmm totally! I've always loved the clean lines and beauty of the Victorian style. To put that with the robustness of a Colosseum would just be…pure creation."

"I see you girls had a good time," Arthur said looking lovingly at Ariadne. They both smiled and nodded.

"She's a quick learner," Ariadne announced to everyone but looking at Cobb.

"Good then tomorrow you'll be ready?" Cobb looked between the two girls. Ariadne nodded. Cole looked confused.

"Ready for what?"

Ariadne swallowed a mouth full of food and turned to Cole. "Tomorrow you'll go into my head and I'll show you certain tricks. Then you should be ready to start making your own prisons and mazes for your mind."

Cole nodded. She would be ready the next time she had to go into her mind.

"Eames," Yusuf called. "Stop bothering that woman and come and eat." Cole looked to see that Eames had not joined them yet. He was still talking to the assistant. Eames was ignoring the call to dinner. Instead he just made some comment, making her laugh. Eames pushed her hair behind her ear.

"Sandra," Cole said. The woman came to attention and dragged her gaze away from the charming man. Eames's eyes slowly drifted over to Cole as well. "I'm sure my father is in want of your company."

"Of course Cole. I was just…"

"Get lost," Cole said with a final tone. She tugged her head in the direction of the door. Sandra left without looking at any of them. Cole's eyes followed the woman out of the room before shifting to Eames. He sauntered over to the table and sat. It was quiet at the table for a little until Arthur asked Cobb how his kids were doing. Conversation built up but Cole didn't take part. She kept an eye on Eames and he kept watch of her. She knew that working with him would be a challenge.

Once dinner was over they all sat a little longer talking. It got late and everyone was beginning to yawn. Cobb, Arthur, Ariadne, and Yusuf were told they would be staying in the guest house somewhere on the vast property. Eames would stay in the main house with Cole and her father. They all exchanged 'goodnights' and went their separate ways.

Cole led the way to her room. They walked up the two staircases and then down a large hall to a winding staircase that led to a loft area. Cole opened the only door to reveal a spacious room. She had her own bathroom and her own balcony as well. Eames walked into the room and set his bags down.

There was one bed in the room. He looked around and asked, "And I sleep where?"

Cole walked over to her large couch and pulled out a mattress. The couch bed was fully made and looked very comfortable. Cole walked over to her closet and grabbed two pillows. She threw them on the couch bed. Eames watched her the whole time. He watched the way her hands swung as she walked, the movement of her hips, and the way she looked as she threw the pillows on the bed.

"You're staring at me," he heard her say.

"Yes I'm going to be doing that a lot. Get used to it." He began to unpack his things as he spoke. Cole sat on her canopy bed and watched him.

"So you'll be studying me?" Eames nodded. "What will you be studying exactly?"

"I'll need to know how you walk, every little habit, the way you talk," he said. He hadn't packed much and had finished quickly. He began walking towards her. "The way you smile, how you look when you think no one is watching, the way you kiss." He was very close to her now.

"The way I kiss is none of your concern Mr. Eames." She didn't want to let on that having him study her made her self-confidence go down. Eames smirked. He leaned one arm on a post of her bed. Cole looked him over quickly, taking in the way his frame looked as he leaned on the post.

"I'm afraid it is my concern. You never know what kind of situation we might get into." Eames gave her a wicked smile and then returned to his bed. He began to untie his shoes to get more comfortable. Cole got off her bed and grabbed her pajamas. She went into the bathroom to change.

"So is there a reason for your little freak out today?" he called to her through the ajar bathroom door.

Cole's temper and embarrassment sparked. She was trying to forget about that little episode. Cole had hoped that everyone would forget about it and the fact that he brought it up ticked her off. Working with him was _definitely_ going to be a challenge.

"Is there a reason you smelled me today," she shot back. Eames sat still. So she noticed. Damn. He had hoped that he had been discrete enough. He was trying to pass it off as taking in a deep breath due to stress or boredom perhaps.

"I didn't," he replied. Cole came out of the bathroom in her pajamas. She stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

"You did."

"I can promise you I didn't." Cole rolled her eyes as she crawled up onto her bed. She could feel his eyes on her and felt unsure of herself. She was going to hate this. She had never felt like this before and she was not enjoying it. Cole turned on her TV to distract herself and sighed. Eames could see how uncomfortable she was and had the urge to make it even more so.

He untucked his shirt and unbuttoned it. Cole glanced over to see this. She tried to make herself concentrate on the TV. He kicked off his socks while loosening his tie. As he undressed further Cole got more and more aware of what he was trying to do. But she didn't want him to win, she wouldn't be seen as some weak little girl. However when he began to undo his pants she caved. Cole pulled the curtains closed so she wouldn't have to see him. Eames laughed to himself.

Cole could feel her face turning red. Closing her eyes she took in deep breaths. She had almost calmed herself completely when the curtains were yanked open. Cole jumped a little and looked to see Eames in sweat pants and his undershirt.

"It's alright to look now," he said, his accent full of amusement. Cole glared knives at his back. When she was over her embarrassment, she took notice of the forger's body. He wasn't overly buff and carried himself well. He looked strong and was probably very handy in a fight. His tattoos fascinated her most of all, especially the one on his upper right arm. Cole looked away before Eames could catch her staring.

"I wouldn't bother going after Sandra by the way." Eames got in his bed and relaxed.

"And why is that?" he asked with a smirk in his voice. Was she jealous? How cute.

"She's engaged."

"I saw no ring."

"That's because her fiancé doesn't want it to be known just yet." Eames looked over at the girl curiously.

"Oh? Then how do you know about it?"

"Because her fiancé is my father." It went quiet between them then.

They watched TV for a while, both of them yawning as it got later (or earlier?). Cole's eyes began to droop and she found it harder to keep them open. Her eyes closed for a moment until a sound startled her into awareness. Eames was snoring. Cole rubbed her eyes as the man continued to snore. She turned off the TV and snuggled down into her covers.

**A/N: I love Inception (if you couldn't tell). It is just epic awesomeness made of win. I don't own anything dealing with it. All that belongs to Chris Nolan. I don't own plot, ideas, or characters (even though I'd love to…Tom Hardy, Leo DiCaprio, JGL, Cillian Murphy you amazing men 3) **


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning the sun hit Eames right in the face. He groaned trying to find darkness to escape to. He turned every which way but was unsuccessful. Eventually he put a pillow over his face, but even that didn't work. Throwing the pillow to the floor, Eames sat up. He rubbed his eyes and looked to see Cole still fast asleep. It looked as if she hadn't moved all night. He took this time to study her facial features. He memorized the zen look she had, her breathing pattern, the way her hair lay on the pillow and came over part of her face.

He had to admit she was a nice looking girl. If he had seen her in another environment, such as a bar, he would have gone after her. He would turn on his charm and flirt harmlessly and eventually get her to come home with him. Eames shook his head of this thought, yawned, and glanced at his watch. It was already ten, the rest of the team would most likely be up by now.

"Bloody hell," he said swinging his feet out of bed. Eames walked over to Cole's bed and lightly shook her shoulder. She stirred a little but did nothing more than that. "Cole get up," he said shaking her more.

Cole groaned and turned over. As she turned her arm flew up smacking Eames, rather hard. He turned away from her rubbing his nose. His moans of pain woke Cole.

"Oh I'm so sorry," she began to say. She caught sight of Eames and changed her attitude. "Oh it's just you."

Eames shook his head and moved his nose around to see if there was much pain. Cole climbed out of bed and went through her drawers for clothes.

"Thanks for the smack in the face," he said with annoyance in his tone.

"Welcome," she responded opening and closing drawers. They both got dressed and joined everyone down stairs.

Cole was standing in the middle of a park. Cherry blossom trees were everywhere. She followed a path that led into a town square type of place. As she entered the town square she saw all kinds of unique, fascinating, strange buildings. Some were unbelievably tall while others were so short no one but children could fit in them. There were buildings that slanted in gravity defying ways and buildings that were in the shape of trees or letters.

"Cole," called Ariadne. She walked over to the architect still taking in the amazing buildings around her. "What do you think?" Ariadne gestured to her world.

"It's amazing. All of these are yours?"

"Well Arthur designed a few, but yes." It was easy to pick out Arthur's buildings from Ariadne's. Ariadne took Cole through the city she had created. She explained the layouts and how it wasn't as hard as it seemed to create from nothing. The two girls arrived at an empty lot that had not yet been filled with Ariadne's creations.

"Go ahead," the architect told Cole.

Cole hesitated. "You want me to just…" Ariadne nodded. "Okay…uhm." Cole tried to think. She decided that she would try her idea of a mix between Victorian style and the Colosseum. She rubbed her hands together and really concentrated.

Ariadne watched as the structure began to form before her eyes. The building stretched, bent, and twisted until it became what Cole wanted. When Cole had it right she stepped back and looked over her work. The building that stood before the two girls was certainly nothing ever seen before. The Victorian house had been twisted into a round form like the Colosseum. The outside and the beauty resembled that of both structures.

"Impressive," Ariadne said. "Let's keep going."

They walked on to other empty lots where Cole could create. She turned buildings upside down, twisted their structure, bent the metal, and pushed them to the limits. The two girls walked along the streets, both changing and creating things along the way.

"Now normally you wouldn't be able to change things or create this much in my mind."

"Why is that?"

"Because of the projections," Ariadne explained. "Arthur and Cobb will explain it more. But what they are is your subconscious. Your mind populates the dream and if they find the intruder…" Ariadne trailed off. She began to remember when she had first messed with Cobb's subconscious. That was the first time she met Mal.

"What happens when they find the intruder?" Cole asked.

"It's not good to say the least."

"That's comforting." Suddenly a faint sound came. It was a thundering beat that got louder. "What is that?"

"The kick."

"What's the…" Before Cole could finish her question she felt herself falling. The ground under them began to give away. Ariadne looked so calm and it scared Cole a little. They both began to fall down into the caverns below the street.


	4. Chapter 4

Cole's eyes opened just as she hit the floor. She looked up to see Yusuf extending his hand to help her up. She saw Eames helping Ariadne off the floor as she removed the headphone from her ears.

"That was the kick," Ariadne finished as she straightened herself out. "It is used to warn us when the dream is coming to an end. That combined with a feeling of falling helps get you out of the dream."

Cole stretched and rubbed her neck. "It'll get easier as time goes on," Yusuf told her. She smiled at him.

"Thanks."

"She's a fast learner," Ariadne said coming up to Cobb.

"Good. It will be easier when she goes back into her mind. Thank you Ariadne."

The doors to the study came open. Alan walked in with the man who always brought them their food. A big fake smile was plastered to his face as he walked up to his daughter. Cole allowed him to kiss her cheek and hug her.

"How are things going? Progress is being made I hope."

"Yes sir. Cole picks up things very quickly," Cobb said proudly.

"Oh good. Good. Well I thought Sandra and I would join you all for lunch today." Cole rolled her eyes. They all sat at a large table together while the food was placed in front of them. Cole noticed Eames pulling Sandra's seat out for her. Her father watched him closely. Cole had warned Eames that Sandra was engaged to her father but he didn't seem to be listening.

Eames came around the table and pulled out a chair for Cole next.

"I thought I told you _not_ to go after Sandra," she whispered to him.

"Is that what you told me?" he asked trying to look confused. She could see the amusement in his eyes. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you're jealous that I'm paying more attention to her and not you."

"Please," she said as she began to sit. "I'd rather have a zoo animal pay more attention to me than you."

Eames frowned. Cole was a tough one. She didn't seem to fall for his charm like all other girls, Ariadne not included. No Cole talked back and ignored his wit. Eames pushed her chair in so far that she was right up to the table. He took the seat next to her and as he sat she nudged his knee with hers, pretending it was an accident. She adjusted her seat hitting him again.

Conversations flowed through out lunch. Cole could feel Eames's eyes on her. She tried to ignore it and hoped that she was just being paranoid. She risked a glance in his direction and found, to her disappointment, that he was watching her.

"Do you _have_ to watch me right now?"

"I told you I need to know all your habits." Eames looked down at her hand and mimicked the way she held her fork. Cole sighed and Eames copied.

"Stop it," she hissed. "Focus on something else."

He raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "If you say so. My Miss Sandra you look very lovely today," he said slowly sliding his gaze away from Cole to the woman sitting across the table. Cole cursed herself. She should have known.

Sandra blushed and laughed a little. "Thank you Mr. Eames." Alan looked from the man to his fiancée. A murderous look entered his eyes as he looked between them. Cole saw and kicked Eames's foot under the table. Conversations continued around them.

Eames looked over to Cole and leaned very close to her. "Are you trying to play footsie with me sweetheart?"

"Do you have some kind of a death wish?" she hissed.

Eames thought for a moment. "Not that I'm aware of."

"If you keep making passes at her I guarantee my father will kill you."

"I'd like to see him try." Cole shivered. The way Eames looked and the way his voice sounded scared her a little. Eames and Cole looked at each other for a while, not bothering to move out of their intimate closeness.

"Well I should let you all get back to work," Alan said. This got Cole's attention. She turned her face away from Eames and shifted her body away from him. Sandra and her father stood and left the room, her father still watching Eames carefully.

They left and the team sat at the table a little longer.

"Cole," Cobb voiced. "I want you to start work with Arthur. By the end of next week I want you ready to go back into your mind."

She nodded. She trusted Cobb, even though she hadn't known him long. It was Saturday so she would still have time to work with everyone before going back into that hell. Everyone got up from the table and did their own thing. Arthur took Cole to the side and began her lesson. He began by talking about the projections. Arthur explained in more detail what they were, how they were important, and what would happen if another mind intruded.

"Let's say you're in my dream. The projections would notice you. They would feel that there is another dreamer inside. Understand?" Cole nodded. "Now let's say you start to change things or I become aware that I am dreaming. The projections would then turn on you."

"Turn on me. What does that mean exactly?"

Arthur tried to find words for it. "It's something that should really be experienced." A look came over Cole. "I'll be right there to help you," he said reassuringly.

Yusuf set up the machine. Cobb was once again on the phone with his kids. Eames was teaching Ariadne how to fight. That was the last thing she saw before her eyes closed.


	5. Chapter 5

Arthur looked around for Cole. He finally found her sitting at a table in the restaurant.

"Can I help you sir?" asked the host.

"No I see my party thank you." Arthur walked through the tables over to Cole. She was dressed in a crisp dress suit, her hair was in a ponytail with curls that hung over her shoulder. Arthur sat across from her at the table.

"So you populated this whole place?" she asked looking out the window. Cars were driving by while people walked on the sidewalk.

"Yes. My mind populates it but your mind has filled in the blanks. You filled in the cars, street signs, some of the buildings." As people walked by they looked in the window at her. "See how they take notice of you."

Cole nodded. She felt nervous. Suddenly she was very aware that people were looking at her.

"I want you to change something," Arthur said adjusting himself in the chair. Cole looked to him, eyes wide. "Calm down Cole," he laughed. "Just change something small to start with."

Cole sighed and looked around. Something small. A stray dog walked by the window just then. Cole changed the dog from a chocolate brown color to being spotted like a Dalmatian.

"Good," Arthur said. More eyes shifted to her, someone bumped into her chair. "Make a bigger change. Put the restaurant somewhere else."

Cole tried to think. She imagined a restaurant her mom had taken her to once. Suddenly shaking began and then stopped just as soon as it had begun. Looking out the window by their table, Arthur and Cole saw that they were now somewhere near the beach.

"Very good." Cole's heart beat increased as murderous looks came her way. More and more people bumped into her, someone even seemed to try to drop hot coffee on her. "Bigger."

Cole looked across the table at the point man. He was looking out the window to inspect her details. She sighed and tried to think of a bigger change she could make. Arthur was startled when the building started to shake very violently. He looked up and saw the ceiling expanding. The sound of metal twisting pierced the air along with the sound of other construction. While Cole was still morphing the building the projections turned. They came over and grabbed her out of the chair.

Arthur sprang up to pull her away from them. More projections came around to restrain him.

"Don't fight them Cole," he instructed. Cole wasn't listening. She struggled and fought each one that came at her. "Cole listen to me."

Arthur tried to make his way through his projections to get to her. They tore and grabbed at him but he kept going.

"Don't fight them. Let it happen," he said reaching out for her. "Remember if you die in a dream you wake up." She calmed and stopped twisting in their arms. "Deep breath." Just as he spoke a waitress put a knife into his side. Arthur fell to the floor.

"Arthur!" Cole tried to look around the projections to see if he was okay. However when she could finally see Arthur's body was no longer lying on the floor. Cole looked up just in time to see hands coming towards her.

Eames looked up from the news paper he had when Cole woke up with an audible gasp. She began to cough and rub her neck.

"You alright?" he asked in a monotone voice. She nodded, no expression on her face. Eames knew she was lying. He watched carefully as she ran a hand through her hair. He took note of every strand that passed through her slender fingers. Eames found himself wondering what it would feel like to run his own hand through her hair. He looked away from her quickly, realizing that he was studying her much more than he needed to.

"Is it normal?" she finally voiced.

"What?" Arthur asked removing the little needle from his wrist.

"Feeling how you die." Cobb came over and took the needle out of Cole's wrist.

"What do you mean feel how you die?" Cobb asked.

"I was just strangled by Arthur's projections and…I can still feel their hands on my neck. Is that normal?" Cobb looked deep into her eyes. He could see that it really worried her. He tried to think how to handle this. Even though Cole was older, Cobb saw her as a little child. He thought about how he would handle this situation if it was his own daughter.

"It's normal, nothing to worry about. As you go into more dreams it will go away." Cole nodded. "I think we've done enough work for today. Why don't you go rest Cole."

She got up and walked over to the couch where Ariadne was watching TV. Eames set down his paper and came over to Cobb.

"What are you doing? You know that's not true."

"I know. But I had to lie to her." Eames gave him a look. "I know it wasn't right but Eames her mind is…powerful. If she is waking up and can still feel what happened in the dream… we aren't dealing with any ordinary mind. If she gets freaked out she will never be ready to handle going back into her mind."

Eames let it go. He supposed Cobb was right, for now.


	6. Chapter 6

"Where are you going?" Eames asked not looking away from the program he was watching. Everyone else was doing their own thing. Eames was the only one in the room. Ariadne was working with Arthur on some building designs and new ways to hide from projections. Yusuf was experimenting with new chemicals. Cobb was trying to figure out if he could bring his kids to visit.

Cole, after resting for a bit, had gotten a call from a friend. A party was going on and she didn't want to miss it. "Going out," she said walking into the entertainment room. How had he heard her walk by?

"Oh? And where are we going?" He got up from the couch. Cole was dressed in her party clothes and practically left Eames speechless for a moment. She was dressed very differently than the days when she was working with the team.

"_We_?"

"Yes we," he said shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Well I'm not sure about _you_ but I'm going to a party." She began to walk to the door. Eames caught her arm.

"Not without me you're not."

Cole looked at his hand around her arm. "You know Cobb asked you to study me and no doubt be my body guard," she said looking into his eyes. "Not to be my stalker."

"Stalking comes with the job sweetness." A devilish smile came to his face along with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

"Ugh," she said tearing her arm out of his grip. "Forget it!" Eames watched amused as she stormed out of the room. Cole went back up to her room. She threw her purse on her bed and threw something off the floor at her door.

She sat on her bed trying to think. Her phone went off continuously, friends asking where she was. There had to be some way to get around Eames. Jesus even her father wasn't this bad. Hmm how could she distract Eames? And then it hit her. Cole smiled and felt slightly proud of herself.

She grabbed her purse, checked herself in the mirror one more time, and then set out to find Sandra.

Eames was back on the couch watching TV. Sandra came in and sat next to him. Cole hid by the door and watched. Cole smiled and walked carefully down the stairs, making sure her shoes made no sound. She got to her car and speed out of the driveway.

"Hi Eames." Sandra sat down next to him.

"Sandra," he answered, still engrossed in the show he was watching. He glanced over to her and gave a quick smile. Then without warning Sandra reached over and grabbed him. She kissed him whole heartedly while he sat back in a bit of shock. He was able to push her away and get his breath back.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh Eames you are so perfect. You're the man of my dreams!" She lunged and tried to kiss him again. He got up quickly from the couch, sending Sandra into the armrest face first.

"You're engaged aren't you?"

"That doesn't matter! You and I will be secret lovers." Sandra growled and began to move slowly towards him. Usually Eames would take this as a welcome invitation. Never had he found himself rejecting a woman who was willing to cheat on her fiancée.

"I see…well that might not be the best idea."

"Why not?" she asked in true confusion. "Don't you want me?"

"Uhm…"

"Cole said you wanted me to…"

"Cole?" Sandra nodded. "Cole told you to come down here and attack me?" She nodded again, turning a deep red of embarrassment.

Eames bolted out of the room and 'borrowed' a car. He didn't even bother to check if Cole was still us in her room, he already knew she was gone. As he drove he suddenly realized he had no idea where the party was.

"Shit!" He screeched to a stop, luckily the road was empty at the time. Eames sat in the idling car trying to think. As he sat there a faint beeping caught his attention. He looked around to see where it was coming from. He opened the glove compartment and dug inside. Eames found the source of the noise to be a tracking device. Thank God for paranoid parents and technology. A tracking system had been planted on Cole and or her car.

Eames followed the tracking device to a large house. All the lights were on, music blasting out of every possible door, people pouring out with cups in their hands. Eames parked and got out. He scanned every face that passed by him, hoping to find her quickly so they could leave. Once he had searched all around outside, he made his way into the house.

"Hey have you seen Cole Hareton?" Eames asked a passerby.

"Yeah she is partying it up over there." The kid pointed over to a large living room where the music was dripping out of. A whole crowd was packed into this room. The music blasted while people, with drinks in hand, moved in almost perfect unison. Eames began to scan the sea of bodies.

He looked for everything he'd been studying. The flow of her hair, the way her body curved, the way she walked. He didn't have to search for long before he heard his name.

"Eames!" He looked to see Cole, waving, drunken smile plastered on her face. She pushed her way through and eventually reached him. He could smell the alcohol on her breath and cringed as she clumsily tripped and knocked his side into a table.

"You came to party with me," she said as he took the red plastic cup from her hand.

"No Cole. I'm here to take you home." She laughed and shook her head. As the crowd surged to the music, Cole and Eames were pushed closer together.

"Dance with me," she called over the music. Cole began to slither around in Eames's arms. He stood there uncomfortably and knew that if he didn't get her home Cobb would kick his ass.

Eames grabbed Cole's shoulders, making her stop. "C'mon we've got to go."

Cole pouted. She got out of his grip and pulled away. "No. I want to dance."

She headed back through the crowd. Eames sighed. So she was a stubborn drunk. He began to push his own way through trying to get Cole before she could get too far from him. A song came on that got everyone excited. Cole got onto the coffee table and began to dance. Everyone cheered and hollered. Eames got to her finally.

"Time to go," he called over the music. Eames grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her down. She tugged away and continued to dance.

"Hey let the girl party," some guy next to Eames said. He pushed the guy away and tried to get Cole once more. The guy turned Eames around. "She doesn't want to go with you. Let her shake it."

The guy smacked Cole's ass. Eames punched the guy, sending him into the people around him. He came back at Eames but was too slow. Eames ducked under the punch and delivered a powerful blow to the kid's stomach. He went down and Eames was met with applause. He grabbed Cole's wrist and hoisted her over his shoulder. He carried her out of the house and to the 'borrowed' car.

On the drive home Cole continued her party. She blasted music from the radio and danced in her seat. Eames drove as fast as possible, ready to sweet talk his way out of a ticket if a cop pulled him over. Luckily they made it back to the house without a disturbance. By the time he had pulled into the gate and up the drive, Cole was asleep. Eames got her out of the car and carried her into the house. He climbed up the winding staircase to her room carefully.

Eames set Cole down on her bed, waking her slightly. He turned on the lights and threw his jacket onto his bed. Kicking off his shoes, he noticed that Cole had on a ton of makeup. He didn't remember her looking like that when he had seen her earlier that night. She must have done it in the car. Eames grabbed her wrist, yanking her to her feet.

Cole groaned in sleepy protest.

"Cole wake up," he said sternly. "C'mon."

He walked her over to the bathroom and flipped on the light. He stood her in front of the mirror and sink and grabbed a wash cloth.

"C'mon wipe that crap off your face."

"Okay sure dad," she sneered. She laughed and then was hit with dizziness and the need for sleep. "I just really want to go to bed," she said her voice soft and almost begging. Eames sighed, something tugging at his heart as he looked at her.

"I know Cole. Just…just wash your face hmm?" He took the wash cloth and ran it under some cool water. He began to wipe off her eye shadow gently. "Here you finish and I'll go find you pajamas."

He took her hand and wrapped her fingers around the cloth. He moved her hand back and forth across her eye. He made sure she continued his actions before going back into her room. When he came back with a shirt and some pants he found, Cole was still cleaning her one eye. Eames shook his head.

"Kiddo you've cleaned this eye," he said setting the clothes on the counter. Cole mumbled something and then fell against his chest. Eames held her up with one arm around her waist. Cole's head rested on his shoulder, her head turned toward him. Her breath fluttered against his neck. Eames tried to ignore how it made him feel and how his body reacted.

He took the cloth from her hand, got it wet again, and cleaned the rest of her face.

"Okay Cole c'mon. Time to put your pajamas on." Hearing himself say that made him think. He sounded like he was talking to a three year old instead of a twenty something year old. He laughed a little to himself.

Cole unhitched herself from him. She pushed him out if the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Eames got himself ready for bed, throwing his clothes in a little pile next to the bed. Cole stumbled out of the bathroom, eyes half closed. She tripped and shuffled her way over to her canopy bed. Eames turned off the bathroom light and watched as the drunk flopped down on her bed and conked out immediately. He walked over to her bed and tugged her into a standing position.

Cole groaned and swayed as Eames pulled her blankets back. He gave her shoulder a little push and she flopped back into bed. With a little laugh he tucked her in. He did not envy her the headache she would have in the morning. Eames turned out the lights and climbed into his own bed. He sighed as the darkness surrounded him. He felt every muscle relax and it felt like a great weight was lifted from him. For the first time in a long time Eames slipped into a deep sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

"What is wrong with you?" Cole closed her eyes tighter and turned her face away from the blinding light. Eames had torn open the curtains to let in some beautiful sunlight. Only to Cole this light was like hell fire.

"Get up Sleeping Drunk." Cole turned her head back, peeked, and saw the forger standing by her bed. He was already showered and dressed for the day.

"Its Sleeping Beauty not Drunk," she said into her pillow.

"Trust me you're no Beauty right now." His accent was drowned with amusement and sarcasm.

"Piss off!" Cole threw a pillow in his direction but missed completely. Eames laughed and threw the pillow back at her, hitting her right in the face.

"Get your royal drunkenness out of bed and downstairs in fifteen minutes. We have work to do." Eames shut the door on his way out. Cole groaned and covered her ears. Did he have to be so loud?

She somehow managed to get out of bed and dress herself. Cole walked into the study and plopped down on the couch next to Arthur, who was rolling up his sleeve for the PASIV device. Arthur looked Cole over carefully. The rest of the team looked as well.

"What's with the zombie?" Ariadne asked. Cole looked up to the girl with a sour face.

"Jesus Eames," came Arthur's voice. Even though he wasn't sitting that close to her, it felt like he was talking in a mic by her ear. Cole cringed. "You're supposed to look after her."

"She kinda looks like a crack head on fifty other drugs at the same time," contributed Yusuf.

Eames was about to tell them all off when Cobb walked in. "Sorry I'm late. I wanted to confirm James and Phillipa's…"

Cobb took one look at Cole and then looked to Eames. He pointed to the slouching girl sitting on the couch and gave the forger a disappointed look.

"What the hell is this?"

Eames put his hands up, as if he were being arrested. "She might be a little hung over…"

"God damnit Eames! This whole day is lost now."

"No, no, no. Now wait a minute…"

"We can't go in there! God only knows what is swimming around in her mind. Her projections will be a lot more dangerous to us if we or Cole go in there right now." Cobb put his hands on his hips and thought for a moment. "The whole day is lost. Everyone can just consider this a day off."

Cobb stalked out of the room, not even taking another look at Cole. The door closed behind him.

"Great Eames," Arthur said standing. "That's just great."

He took Ariadne's hand and took her out of the room with him. The door closed loudly but not before the architect gave the forger a sympathetic look. Eames blew out a long breath while running his hand through his hair.

"Does hang over mean nothing to you people?" Cole asked covering her head with her hands.

Yusuf clapped a hand on Eames's shoulder. "Don't take it too hard. We all need a break anyway." Yusuf followed the others out of the room. Eames and Cole were left with each other.

He looked down at her with something close to hate. He yanked her up from her seat, a tight grip on her wrist. She gasped as he dragged her along after him. Cole winced as his nails made a slight indentation into her skin.

"Let go of me," she said as he forced her up the two flights of stairs. "Eames!"

He ignored her as they walked down the hall to the stairs leading up to her room. Cole tried to get free from his grip but it was no use. Eames kept his iron tight grip on her. She tugged and pushed at his hand but he wouldn't let go.

"You're hurting me!" Eames opened her bedroom door and basically tossed her in. Cole's back hit one of the posters of her bed. She winced as her head hit and pain thundered through her clouded head. He slammed the door behind him sending more pain into her sensitive mind. He closed in on her, getting very close. He gripped her by the shoulders as he spoke.

"What's wrong with you? Hmm?" Cole looked at him like he was a mad man. "One simple job. All I have to do is watch after you and you go and fuck it up. Now Cobb thinks I am incapable of the simplest tasks. God knows if he'll hire me again if he thinks I can't even keep track of one stupid girl! All you have to do is _listen_ to me but can you do that Nicole? Hmm?"

Cole pushed him away. Who was he to yell at her like this? She watched as he paced in front of her. He looked like a wolf staring down its prey, getting ready to go in for the kill.

"I don't _have_ to listen to you." Once the words were out of her mouth he was on her again. He held one of her arms and her face was gripped in his other hand. He cocked her head up so she was looking up to him.

"Yes you do," he said slowly. "You want to go to a party, I go with you. You want to go out with friends, I go with you. You want to go anywhere, I go with you. I couldn't give a shit if you don't like it. This is the way it's going to be. Understand?"

Cole nodded as much as she could. He let go of her, not realizing he was holding her off the floor a little. Her feet touched the carpeted ground silently. His grey blue eyes silently threatening her as he walked to the door.

"Don't come out of this room until you've wised up." He closed the door and Cole broke. She fell to her bed and curled up into a ball. She began to cry, covering her mouth so her sobs weren't audible. She knew that she would have a bruise on her wrist and arm where he gripped her. She cried until she eventually fell asleep. When she opened her eyes the sun was heading down towards the horizon.

She sat up, her wrist hurting as she leaned on it. Cole cringed and pushed back her sleeve. A circle of blue, purple, and red showed on her small wrist. Little imprints of his nails were also present on her skin. She got off her bed slowly in case she was still a little hung over. But she was fine. No headache, she felt stable, no need to throw up. Cole looked out her window and thought for a little. She knew that she had messed up and that she had to fix it.

Cole walked downstairs and looked for him. She searched his usual haunts around the house but couldn't find him. She began to make her way to the family room with the long L shaped couch. On her way she ran into Sandra.

"Hey Sandra."

"Oh. Hello Nicole." The woman looked down at the files she was carrying in her arms. Her tone was neither happy or angry. It was just matter of fact. Cole wondered what had happened between Sandra and Eames last night. Had her plan to distract Eames gone seriously wrong?

"Have you seen Eames?"

Sandra's eyes perked up at the mention of his name. However her expression gave away embarrassment.

"Why? Do you want me to distract him again? Embarrass myself? Cheat on your father?" Something had gone wrong. Great. Cole was ashamed of herself. True she didn't think much of her father marring his assistant and she didn't really like her father, or Sandra for that matter, but still.

Cole sighed. "Look I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…"

"He's out on the patio," Sandra said sharply and walked past Cole. She pushed her guilt aside and prepared herself for what she had to do. She headed to the kitchen and saw one side of the sliding glass door open. She peered out to see Eames sitting in a lounge chair smoking. He got up from the chair and leaned on the railing, looking into the garden and the pool. Cole was about to go out when she had a better idea.

She grabbed the kitchen phone and dialed a number. She cleared her throat while the phone rang.

"Hey Cobb?" she said into the phone. She made sure her voice was loud enough for Eames to hear outside but quiet enough so she wasn't screaming into Cobb's ear. "It's Nicole. I don't mean to bother you…I know you're with your kids. I just need to explain about this morning."

Eames heard this and moved a little closer to the open sliding door. He took a hit from his cigarette and listened closely.

"It was my fault not Eames's." Cole went on to explain about the party, using Sandra, and then getting wasted. She told of how Eames came to get her and took care of her that night. "Yeah I actually got around Eames and snuck out," she laughed.

She was surprised to hear Cobb saying he was impressed and laughing with her. Eames peeked in through the door and saw Cole standing in the middle of the large kitchen. He watched as she stopped laughing and the smile slowly faded from her face. From the looks of her Cobb must have been giving her a lecture.

She leaned on the counter and listened quietly. He looked her over carefully. His eyes caught sight of the bruise on her wrist and cringed a little at his handy work. He hadn't meant to do that.

"No I understand," Cole said. Eames focused on listening again. He leaned on the wall by the door finishing his cigarette. "It was stupid of me I know. It won't happen again and I'm prepared to work twice as hard. I promise I'll still be ready to go in by the end of next week. Okay great. Have fun with your kids."

Cole hung up the phone and Eames resumed his place by the railing. Had she done that for him? Had she made sure he was listening to the conversation? Why would she do something like that for a guy like him? He had given her bruises, yelled at her. Was she really this nice and forgiving?

_Who cares,_ he thought to himself. Yet something churned in his stomach as he thought about her doing something nice for him. Later that night Cobb, after putting his kids to bed, found Eames having a drink in the kitchen. He joined him and apologized for not hearing out his side of the situation that morning.

**AN: Oh my goodness I am so happy people are liking this story. I was nervous about it at first but then you wonderful people came along! I'd like to thank mamashang and SansRegrets for their reviews! The reviews always help ^_^ And of course I'd like to thank everyone who is adding this story to their favorites. You guys make me keep writing. **

**Y'all know I don't own Inception, characters, or anything dealing with that amazing movie. **


	8. Chapter 8

Over the week Cole proved herself and was true to her word. Whatever Cobb threw at her she took it on and completed it. She practiced and learned with them for hours. Cobb took her into his mind and taught her how to get information. Arthur taught her more about projections, totems, and how to create a distraction. She even got homework from Ariadne.

"I want you to time yourself," she explained to Cole. "See how fast you can finish these and try to multitask. Listen to music or watch TV at the same time. Let them distract you and work on concentration."

Cole sat at the desk, separated from the others all day. She worked endlessly on maze after maze. Ariadne would come over every once in a while to check on her or give her more mazes. Cole was so emerged in what she was doing that she worked through lunch and dinner most days. Cole worked all day and sometimes into early morning.

Eames was usually the only one who would stay in the study with her. He'd watch TV, read up on his other job, or practice fighting.

Ariadne gave her ten mazes to start with and continued to pile more and more on the desk where Cole was working. While Cole worked she waited for Eames to come up and say thanks or apologize. She knew he had heard the call, just like she planned. It had been a few days and he had said nothing. Instead he was giving fighting lessons to the team or reading up on some other job he was working on the side, they all had other jobs on the side.

Cole told herself she'd get him to say something, she just had to be patient.

"Hey Cole," Yusuf said coming up to her while she was working. Cole paused her YouTube playlist and smiled at the chemist.

"What's up Yusuf?"

"I was wondering… I could talk to you about something." He dragged a chair close to her and sat. Cole turned her chair towards him and nodded. "I am, well have been, working on a new chemical. What it's supposed to do is…"

Yusuf went quiet as Cobb walked by with a book in hand. Yusuf watched him walk by and waited until he was a good distance away. Cole waited patiently, wondering what was so secretive about this chemical.

"What it's supposed to do is connect people to a mark or another member of the team who isn't around. So no matter where we are, if we are all hooked into a PASIV machine we can all be connected. Understand."

"I think so. So what you're trying to do is like…let's say someone on the team is stuck in another country and the rest of the team had to get into their mind this chemical would be able to do that as long as everyone is hooked up?"

Yusuf nodded impressed. "Exactly. Or let's say that a mark is kidnapped. The team would be able to get into the dream with this chemical and it would still be a shared dream. I thought this job would be the perfect chance to perfect it. I mean God forbid that you get taken…"

Cole had stiffened in her seat. Shock filled her lungs. She had never thought of that. Why had she never thought of that? She knew there were people after her father and that they wanted to hurt him. And it would only make sense for them to go after her, she was the family "vault" after all. Cole supposed she never thought they would kidnap her because of all the security and because Cobb and the team were helping her. With all this she never thought that someone would be able to kidnap her.

While Cole was thinking all this over, she hadn't realized that Yusuf was still talking.

"…we will be able to tap into the dream and come to get you," he finished. Cole nodded still feeling a little shocked. "So you'll agree to help me?"

"Of course," she said snapping out of her trance. "Whatever I can do to help Yusuf."

He smiled and bounced in his seat a little. "Great," he said excited.

"So where do we start?"

"Well I need some of your DNA to begin with. Your gum will do nicely." Cole took out her gum and placed it in a little dish Yusuf had presented to her. "Great. This will be fun."

"Yusuf!" came Ariadne's voice. Cole and Yusuf looked to see her in a fight session with Eames. "Stop distracting her. Cole has mazes to do."

Just then Eames threw a punch and Ariadne went down onto the pile of pillows behind her. Arthur helped her up, glaring at Eames.

"That wasn't fair," he said making sure the love of his life was okay. Eames sighed.

"What's the first rule of fighting?" he asked no one in particular.

"Be ready for anything," answered Arthur, Yusuf, and Ariadne. Even Cobb who had been totally engaged in his reading answered.

"Very good," Eames said looking proud of his students. Cole rolled her eyes and went back to the mazes. She put her head phones back on and turned up the volume to drown out the sounds of fighting. She worked through dinner once again and didn't notice when the others left.

Eames fell asleep on the couch watching Army of Darkness. He woke up just as the credits rolled. Rubbing his eyes, Eames looked at his watch. Groaning he got up and looked around. Cole was right where she had been all day. She was hunched over, concentrating on a maze, ear phones in, desk light beating down on her.

"Cole," he said with a yawn. "Cole. Cole!" She didn't look up. Eames shuffled over, placed his hands on the desk and leaned down, trying to catch her eye. She still wasn't paying attention. Eames walked around to her side and carefully lifted one earphone out.

"Oi," he said a little too loudly. Cole jumped and placed a hand over her heart. Eames laughed sleepily at her reaction. "Sorry."

"Jesus," she breathed. "What do you want?"

"It's two thirty in the morning. I think you've done enough damage for today yeah?"

Cole let out a long breath and looked at her pile of finished and unfinished mazes. "Yeah I guess."

Cole stood up and stretched. Eames listened to the little groaning sounds she made and shivered. He couldn't help but watch her massage her neck and wish his hands were around that neck. He shook his head getting rid of the want. Why did the little things about her make him want to hold her, or kiss her and never stop?

Cole turned off the desk light and followed him out of the study. Back in her room, Cole got in the shower while Eames took time to actually look around her room. Since he'd been there he had been so concentrated on watching her that he hadn't looked around. He looked at the posters on her wall, looked through her CDs, he found that he liked half of the movies she had, he looked at her bulletin board, calendar, and pictures.

One picture caught his eye especially. He picked up the frame from the mantel under her TV. It was a picture of her and a boy who looked around her age. In the picture Cole was maybe a few years younger but didn't look any different. The two people in the photo smiled up at him from the past and Eames found himself smiling a little, as if he shared a joke with them.

Cole came out of the bathroom in her pjs. She looked at what Eames was holding and smiled herself.

"That's my brother," she said coming to Eames's side to see better. "This was taken like a month before he died."

"How'd it happen?"

"He slipped out by the pool. He hit his head, fell in, and drowned. No one was home so no one could help him."

Cole took the frame from Eames and looked at it lovingly. She put it back in its place and ran her fingers over her brothers smiling face.

"What was his name?" Eames asked as Cole climbed up onto her bed.

"Marty." Eames climbed into his own bed and turned off the light by him. "He was my best friend," she said after a moment. Eames looked to her and she looked back at him. Her eyes looked glossy and sad at the memory.

Cole gave him a weak smile before looking away. Something hidden tore at his heart when she looked away. He hated how much this got to him. He turned on his side, not facing her, and closed his eyes. Eames tried to force himself to sleep. He heard Cole turn off the remaining light and snuggle down into her bed. Moonlight filled the room and everything was still.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day was Arthur day. They sat together in the study at the desk, still full with mazes. Cobb was putting together a puzzle with his kids, Ariadne was making models of buildings to add to the collection in her head, and Eames and Yusuf duked it out.

"Do you have a totem yet?"

"No." Arthur gave her a look. "I can't think of anything to use! I mean…there is nothing unique of mine that I could have as a totem."

"C'mon Cole think. There has to be something. Maybe something you cherish or a memento from a trip?"

Cole tried to think but came up with nothing. She shrugged. "I don't know Arthur."

He sighed and ran a hand over his already perfect hair. "It's fine. Don't worry about it right now."

"I'm sorry Arthur," she said with her own sigh. He covered her hand with his.

"It's fine Cole. We'll come back to the totem issue. Okay?" She nodded and he continued with the lesson. Somewhere in the middle of the lesson Cole caught sight of Eames finishing the lesson with Yusuf. She felt like she had waited forever for him to say something. She itched for Eames to just say sorry or grovel for clearing things up with Cobb.

"Cole are you listening?"

"Hmm?" She looked over to Arthur.

"Did you hear anything I just said?"

"Yeah you were talking about paradoxes."

"Very good," he said a little impressed. Cole dragged her full attention back to the lesson and tried to push Eames out. But of course he just pushed himself right back in.

"Cole." His voice rang like a bell in her brain. She looked up hopeful that he was actually going to do what she had hoped. "I need to start teaching you how to fight. When you're done with this stick in the mud join me."

"Go to hell Eames," Arthur said bitterly.

"Sweetheart I'm already there." Eames winked at him and walked away. Cole crossed her arms and slumped in her chair. She was not looking forward to a lesson with the forger.

After Arthur had taught her everything for the day Cole tried to delay joining Eames. She tried asking Arthur more questions, some having nothing to do with the lesson. He would answer but eventually told her that she had to go work with Eames. Cole then tried to talk to Yusuf about the new chemical he was working on but he shooed her away.

"Cole c'mon let's get started," Eames called. He was shadow boxing while Cole looked around for some excuse not to have a lesson with him. And then she spotted it.

"I'd love to but I have to work on Ariadne's mazes." She began to move towards the desk but was prevented from it by Cobb.

"Those can wait Cole," he said taking her by the waist and dragging her towards Eames's little fighting corner. She watched as the desk got father away from her, a pout on her face. "You need to build up fighting skills for reality and dream state."

Cobb let go of Cole and turned her around to face the other man. He patted her on the head liked shed seen him do a thousand times to Phillipa. Eames stopped boxing with himself and faced his new student.

"Alright take your stance." Cole looked confused.

"My what?" she asked. Eames's shoulders slumped.

"Oh for the love of…" He walked over to her and demonstrated. "This is a stance." He raised his arms up and ducked down a little. His feet were placed so that the left was in front and the right in back. Cole looked at him and tried to mimic what he was doing. She failed.

Eames stood in front of her and grabbed her wrist to place it place it properly. Cole winced and shrank away from him a little. Seeing this Eames let go immediately. He didn't want her to have that reaction to his touch but it was unavoidable at this point. Cole avoided his eyes, holding her wrist against her chest. He moved to stand behind her. Gently he took her elbow in hand and moved it to the right place and did the same with the other arm. His hands slid down her arms and up over her hands. He curled her soft cool hands into fists under his large rough hands.

Cole stood still and became very aware how close he was as his hands found her waist. He shifted her hips into the right place before letting his hands slide down her legs. He moved them into their place before standing and moving in front of her again.

"Alright. Now I want you to hit me as hard as you can."

"What is this Fight Club?" she asked letting her arms drop. Eames walked over and put them back in place.

"I'm serious. Hit me as hard as you can. C'mon." He stood there waiting making Cole unsure. "Hit me Cole. I know you have pinned up rage against me. Let it out."

"I do not have pinned up rage," she scoffed. Her stance dropped again.

"Oh yes you do."

Cole put her hands on her hips. "And how do you know hmm?"

Eames smiled a little. "Because I haven't apologized or acknowledged what you did for me. That's right I heard your little planned conversation with Cobb. I haven't said anything about it and it has been driving you crazy every day."

Cole stood there for a moment with her mouth wide open. Eames walked over and placed his fingers under her chin, pushing her mouth closed.

"Maybe you're not ready for fighting today." As he began to walk away Cole picked up a pillow off the floor and threw it at him.

"You ass!" Eames turned around amused.

"Pinned up rage just like I said." He picked up the pillow and walked back to her. When he was close enough Cole threw a punch. Eames blocked it with the pillow. She tried again but he caught her by the wrist. Her other hand came flying towards him but he caught that hand too. Now both of Cole's hands were trapped between his arms and his body.

Cole struggled to get her arms free. Eames just watched as she continued to thrash around and make frustrated noises. The others had gathered around them now, watching.

"C'mon Cole get him! Show him who's boss," Ariadne cheered.

"Twenty bucks says Eames throws her to the floor," Yusuf said.

"You're on," Ariadne agreed.

"What do you think?" Arthur asked turning to Cobb.

"Eames is a master fighter no doubt. But hell hath no fury like a woman taunted." Arthur smiled and nodded in agreement.

"What are you going to do now?" Eames asked in a rough voice. Cole stopped thrashing and looked at him. With a quick movement she forcefully kneed him in the stomach. All of the air rushed out of Eames. The crowd made noise in accordance with Eames's pain. Cole got her arms back and took a couple steps backwards. Without warning Eames rushed towards her. He grabbed her around the waist and tackled her to the floor. She hit the pillows but still felt the hard blow.

Eames sat up, hovering over the girl beneath him. He dragged his fist back and prepared to strike. Cole's eyes were squeezed shut from hitting the floor. He hesitated unsure if he should continue any further. But he had to teach her, had to show her, that no one would hold back just because she was weak. Infact her weakness would fuel the attacker to continue. Cole's eyes slid open just as his fist made contact. Her head snapped to the side with a cracking sound.

Their audience hissed feeling the pain themselves. "Ouch," one of them mumbled.

Cole groaned as the pain hit hard. Eames was reaching back to take another hit. Her eyes went wide as she scrambled under him. Before his blow could do more damage Cole reached up and slapped him with all the power she could. While he was dazed and trying to figure out what happened, Cole pushed him off her. She headbutted him sending him tumbling to the floor. She crawled on top of him and delivered a couple punches of her own.

She stood up and then tumbled onto the pillowed floor. That headbutt had made her very dizzy. Ariadne kneeled on the floor by Eames.

"One, two, three! Out for the count!" She ran over to Cole and raised up one of her arms. "The winner!"

Cobb and Arthur clapped as they went to help the forger up. Ariadne lifted Cole over to the couch and set her down carefully. She then went to collect her twenty from Yusuf. The rest of the day was filled with TV and relaxation. Phillipa and James joined them in the study, watching cartoons and playing hide and seek. After a while Cole got up and started heading back to her room.

She began to feel an ache set in. Her neck, head, and hand burned with pain. She needed a nice hot shower to relax her muscles. As she made her way down the hall to her winding staircase she heard someone calling her name. She turned to see Eames jogging down the hall after her.

"Cole," he said as he reached her. "I wanted to apologize for not thanking you earlier."

"It's a little late for that now don't you think?"

He nodded. "Alright. Then let me apologize for the other damages." He took her wrist in his hand and flipped it over. He gently rubbed his thumb over the ghost of scars from where his nails had dug in.

Cole thought for a moment and then answered, "Alright. I guess I can accept an apology for that."

"Good," he said with a little smile.

"But you have to say it."

"Say what?"

"You have to say 'Cole I am truly, deeply, with all my heart sorry that I hurt you'."

Eames dropped her wrist and took a couple steps back. "C'mon now. You're being childish."

"Fine," she said with a shrug. "Don't say it. I'll just pin up more rage and then every time we have a fight session I'll humiliate you like I did today."

She began to walk away when Eames caught her hand. "Wait, wait, wait. I'll do it." Cole came back with a smile and waited. "Cole I am truly, deeply sorr.."

"Ah, ah. I am truly, deeply, _with all my heart_ sorry." Eames rolled his eyes.

"I am truly, deeply, _with all my heart_ sorry that I hurt you." Cole thought for a moment.

"Forgiven. See it wasn't that bad was it?"

"It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do," he said with some sarcasm in his voice.

"Now who's being childish?" She gave him a look before continuing on to her room.

**AN: **So I am super excited! Inception comes out on DVD December 7th! YAY! Sorry…I just love that movie a lot….but y'all know that already I'm sure ^_^

Thank you everyone for still reading this and liking it! You make my day every time I see someone has added the story to their favorites or notifications. Okay this is turning into its own chapter. I'm going to stop now…

Now for the usual thing. Don't own any of it except for the characters I came up with.


	10. Chapter 10

For the next three days Eames gave Cole a crash course of fighting. He taught her the basics and a few sneaky tricks to get the upper hand. They didn't have much time as the week drew to a close and it was time for her to face her first demon.

Yusuf was setting up the PASIV while the other rolled up sleeves and got settled.

"Mr. Eames." Sandra was standing in the doorway of the study. "May I have a word before you go under?" Eames shrugged and nodded. Cole watched him from her chair. She locked eyes with Eames as he passed by her. Her gaze was full of questions and warning. He followed Sandra out into the hall and into the foyer.

"What can I do for you?" Eames asked out of politeness rather than curiosity.

"I wanted to ask you something." Sandra removed her glasses and took a step closer.

"Alright."

"What should a woman do if she finds that she is attracted to someone other than the man she is with?"

"Oh…uhm." Eames rubbed the back of his neck feeling uncomfortable. Sandra made him uncomfortable, every since she had attacked him on the couch. "I think she should just stay with the man she is with and forget the other one."

Sandra stepped closer and began to run her index finger along his chest. "But what if she doesn't want to forget the other man? What if she lov…"

Eames placed a hand over her mouth to stop her from saying that word. "Look Sandra, you don't…I mean this woman doesn't love me…I mean the other man…uhm. Look she should stay with the man she is with and leave it at that. I have to go."

Before Sandra could say anything Eames turned on his heel and left. He shivered from being touched by her and prayed she would never come near him again. When he came back in the study he found Cole's eyes immediately.

"Eames." Cole grabbed his hand as he walked by. "What happened?"

Eames bent down and rolled up her sleeve for the wristband. "Nothing. I took care of it."

"Took care of what?" He attached the wristband, Cole winced a little as the needle entered her skin.

"It's nothing Cole. She just wanted to apologize for attacking me as a distraction for you that night. That's all." Eames smiled at her before standing up to get himself ready. Cole took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on the task before her. She began to get very nervous as she watched the others getting ready. Cobb noticed and came to her side.

"Are you okay?" She absent mindedly nodded her head. "You're ready for this Cole. I know you are."

She looked at him with hopeful eyes. She wanted nothing more than for him to be right. She hoped with all her heart that she was ready to take this on. Yusuf helped her strap the wristband on. She lay back in her chair and took a deep breath before she closed her eyes.

Cole woke up in a strange place. It looked as if Tim Burton had been around. Gnarled trees were scattered around the dark grounds. Pumpkins and graves filled in the empty places while a little town sat off in the distance. Creatures walked around the graveyard, their shadows from the moonlight looking even more hideous than they. Cole looked up to the big bright moon to see a jack-o-lantern face carved in it.

Slowly she sat up and noticed that she was wearing an 18 century dress. As she stood, however, a layer of dust came off the dress. She began wiping off the rest of the dress and saw her hands were not hers. They were a cold blue color with missing pieces of flesh and stitches in certain areas.

"Great," she said to herself. "I'm a zombie…or a Frankenstein."

"Cole," she heard. She looked around until she saw the rest of the team. Ariadne was a witch, Arthur had become a vampire, Eames was now a werewolf, and Cobb…

"Cobb?" The skellington standing before her nodded. "Sorry."

"At least I don't smell like dog," he said looking to Eames.

"Not my bloody fault her mind made me like this."

"Sowhatarewedealingwithfirst?" Arthur asked.

"What?" all of them asked. His fangs made it hard for him to talk and be understood. He sighed and tried again. This time he annunciated.

"So what are we dealing with first?"

"Well considering my mummy issues came up the first time. I'm going to take a stab in the dark, no pun intended, and say that's it." Sure enough just as Cole spoke a cold wind came up and her mother appeared. Only her mother looked like a dark demented creature.

The knife glittered in her hand. "Cole dearest. Give mommy a hug."

Cole's breath caught. Cobb put a bony hand on her shoulder. "Just remember everything we've taught you."

Cole watched as the creature swayed and slowly came towards her. Cobb and the others stood to the side, but stayed close by just in case. Cole stood her ground and waited. Her mother slowly turned her face upwards, revealing a horrifying face. Cole's breathing got a little louder and her heart pounded in her chest.

The creature raised the knife and began to fly at Cole. "Come to mother!"

Cole moved backwards and tripped over a root sticking out and fell to the ground, one of her arms popping off in the process. The creature was getting closer. Suddenly the ground parted and a wall of vines with thorns formed between Cole and the creature. She stood and smiled at her creation. But it did not last long. The demon hacked at the wall until she made her way through. She once again came flying at Cole.

Tired of this memory haunting her she yelled out in frustration, "Why won't you just stay dead?"

The creature, with knife aimed to kill, was inches from her. Cole squeezed her eyes closed waiting for impact. But nothing happened. Cole peeked with one eye and saw what she had created. The vines had wrapped around the creature, stopping the knife inches away from Cole's heart. A ditch opened and the vines carried the demon into it. The ditch filled up with earth as a headstone popped out of the ground. Words were then etched into the stone and then it was quiet.

Cole walked over to the stone to see what had been etched in.

**Here lies Bliss Hareton**

**Beloved mother and wife**

**1955-2000**

She turned back towards the others. "I did it?" she asked in disbelief.

"You did it Cole," Arthur said trying to get the words out around his fangs. Cole's eyes went wide with joy.

"I did it! Hahaha! I did it! WOOOO!" Suddenly music started up out of nowhere. Cole grabbed Ariadne and they began to dance to DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love. The song switched then to Monster Mash which in turn switched to Thriller as the girls stared doing the Michael Jackson dance. The boys watched and laughed. Cole picked up her fallen arm and waved it in the air.

"She has a very powerful mind," Cobb said to the other two.

"Is it dangerous to the rest of us," Arthur asked suddenly feeling worried.

"She wouldn't hurt us but all the same. Just always be careful."

The music changed to Non Je Ne Regrette Rien. The Tim Burton Halloween town melted around them.

Back in the study once more, Cole woke with a smile on her face. Yusuf removed the wrist band while the rest got up.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"Fantastic," she answered with a long stretch.

"Miss someone here to see you," said a woman from the study door. Everyone turned to see Saito enter the room. Cole jumped up from her chair.

"Well if it isn't my favorite tourist," Eames said as a greeting.

"Saito!" The man opened his arms to her with a big smile.

"How's my girl?" he asked kindly.

"I just finished locking up one secret."

"Well done Nicole." He kissed the top of her head proudly. "Well done all," he added looking to the rest of the team. Saito placed Cole at arm's length. "Tell me all about it."

For the first time the team experienced a fatherly side to Saito. It was nice to see. Cole began to explain what she had accomplished like a five year old telling their parent something that happened at school.

"Very good Nicole. I am very proud of you. What totem have you picked then?"

"I haven't picked one yet." Saito looked to Arthur shocked.

"Didn't you teach her about that?"

"Of course I did," he replied looking offended.

"And haven't you told her how important it is to have one?" Arthur was trying to find a way to describe the situation he had with Cole picking a totem.

"It's not Arthur's fault," Cole chimed in. "I just…don't know what to use."

"Well why don't you work on it while I talk to them? Go create your totem."

The only thing Cole hated was being spoken to as if she were five. It seemed that Saito still saw her as that little kid clutching to his pant leg while her parents "worked out" their issues. She stood nonetheless and did as she was told. Once she was out of the study Saito focused on the team.

"Everything went alright then?" he asked them.

"Everything went smoothly," Ariadne answered.

"She had it all under control and handled it beautifully," added Eames.

"This is only the first secret she has locked up?"

"Yes. We needed a longer amount of time to work with her," Cobb offered. "Her mind is…"

"You need to work faster," Saito cut in. "The men trying to destroy Alan are doing anything they can to find her."

"I pity them," Arthur said with a rough laugh. Saito looked around confused.

"Cole's mind is unique. She can do things that I have never seen another do," Cobb explained.

Saito nodded. "Cole was always very imaginative as a child. That plus everything she has experienced, I can see how her mind would be powerful. She definitely is Bliss's daughter for Alan never had an imagination."

"Oh don't I?" All eyes turned to see Alan entering the study.

"Bloody hell. Is it a family trait to always materialize out of nowhere?" Eames inquired. Alan gave him a bland smile before focusing on his business partner.

"Don't you know old boy that it is common courtesy to be presented to the head of the household before anyone else?" Alan had a sour look on his face as he waited for a reply.

"I was always under the impression that the more intelligent were to be greeted first…old boy." Saito smirked as irritation came into Alan's eyes.

"Yes well…I trust Cole has made you feel right at home then." He turned on his heel and walked out.

Meanwhile, Cole searched around for an idea for her totem. She found nothing in her room, her parents room, the library, the art room, or the entertainment room. Just as she was about to give up she passed by Marty's room. Cole paused in front of the door and thought. She slowly turned the handle on the door and opened it.

Marty's room was exactly how he left it. His laptop sat dusty on his desk, an empty can of Sprite next to it. His bed was unmade, some clothing lay scattered on the floor, and his calendar was forever stuck on the month he passed away. Cole felt eerily happy being in his room again. She missed Marty very much and missed all of the time they could have had together. Memories came to her as she looked around.

Memories of play Xbox with him, watching movies together, and video chatting with each other even though they lived down the hall from each other. Cole ran her fingers over some of the objects on his dresser. She picked up a little sliver soldier keychain that Marty had bought on their trip to London. She held it in her hand and felt the weight of it. She pulled off the keychain and got the feel of the new weight. She had found her totem.

Later that night Cole came into the entertainment room where Eames was watching TV. She began to search the room, turning things upside down and pushing up cushions.

"Have you seen my phone? I can't find it." Eames held it up between his index finger and thumb. Cole plopped down next to him on the couch and reached for it. Eames held it back from her reach.

"Daisy called and said there was a party at Chase's house. Told her we'd be there around eight. We're leaving in half an hour," he said not looking away from the show he was hardly interested in.

"We're going to a party?" Finally he looked to her.

"You have been working hard. Figured you needed to do some celebrating, you earned it." He dropped the phone into her hands before getting up and walking out of the room, laving Cole gaping after him.

**AN: Don't own inception so on and so forth…. **

**So I have a question for you. The only ones who have a full name in the movie are Dom Cobb and Mal Cobb. So what do you think some of the character's names are? I've heard things like William Eames and Arthur Callahan. What do you think? **


	11. Chapter 11

They had been at the party for an hour and Eames was already bored. A few girls had tried to chat him up but he honestly was not paying attention. He hung back from Cole, so he didn't seem like some kind of body guard but close enough to keep an eye on her. Knowing that he was watching her Cole made sure the only drink she had was a Coke. She stood to the side, separated from the rest of the party. It looked to Eames that she wasn't in the celebrating mood.

She had started out talking to a few people and danced a little, but then retreated to her own little area. Eames did not expect this to happen. He had thought she would have gone crazy and let loose after the impressive job she did with the dream. Instead it looked as if she were attending a lecture instead of a party.

A new song began to pump heavily out of the speakers. Eames walked past the new girl who was trying to get his attention. He made his way to Cole and took the red plastic cup out of her hands. She looked at him confused and startled at the same time. He took her hand and mixed themselves in with the mass of other party goers. He held onto her hands as they began to sway to the music with the others. Eames only let go of her hands when the swaying turned into jumping. Cole swept her hands through her hair, pushing it out of her face. She laughed at the sight of Eames's dance moves. He himself laughed a little at how ridiculous he must have looked. But for some reason because Cole was there it didn't seem to matter.

They stayed at the party for a few more songs before heading out. While in the car the radio blasted, Cole belting every song to her best ability. Some cars passing by them applauded Cole's performance.

"Impressive vocals," Eames said as they rolled up to a stoplight.

"Natural talent," she answered with a smile. A car pulled up beside them. The driver honked his horn and rolled down the window.

"Hey sweetness," said the driver. Both Cole and Eames turned to see what he wanted. "How about you jump in my car with me and my boys?"

Cole rolled her eyes. "How about you and your boys get lost?"

"Don't be like that baby," said one of the boys from the backseat.

"We can show you a good time sexy lady," another one crooned. Cole turned away ignoring them. More calls and pleas came dripping out of the car windows.

"She said "no" you half wits. Are you so thick that you don't understand when a girl tells you "no"? Or is it that this is your first encounter with the opposite sex? Scram," Eames said leaning over a little so they would get the point.

"You prefer this guy over us?" asked the driver.

"You mean do I prefer this hunk of a sex machine over drooling idiots like you?" Cole thought for a second while Eames looked at her with a smirk. What had she just called him? "Yeah I do."

The other boys started to fuss. They yelled and jeered at the top of their lungs.

"Alright calm your asses down," commanded the driver. "Let's make a bet pretty boy."

"I'm all ears darling," Eames replied.

"We're going to have a race. The next five signals turn green all at the same time. Whoever makes it through first gets to take her home as a prize. Deal?"

"Deal." The driver smirked at Cole with a hideous look in his eyes. Cole felt suddenly nervous and a little scared.

"Eames." He looked over at her. "Don't let them win." Eames placed and hand on her cheek.

"Not a chance in hell." His thumb ran back and forth over her skin. "I wouldn't let anything happen to you Cole."

The look she gave him could have killed him then and there. It was just a flash that passed over her eyes quickly. He couldn't put a finger on what it was but it had been there. He was sure it had been there.

**AN: Okay so I have finals this week and next. So sorry but there might not be updates until winter break. Good news is that I will have plenty of time then to write ^_^**

**Thanks for the reviews! They help me keep writing and I love to see what you guys have to say. So for this part with the party the song Eames and Cole dance to...I was thinking of Firework by Katy Perry. It just seems to work because it talks about like showing yourself and how great you are. And I want to show Eames's fun/easy/free self. And it is a great song to dance to. **


	12. Chapter 12

Cole couldn't breathe. Tears escaped from her eyes as she tried to walk up to the front door with Eames. Both of them were laughing so much that it was to the point where they couldn't even speak. Cole doubled over, clutching her stomach, making Eames go into a whole new laughing fit.

"Did you see his face?" Cole said as she tried to catch her breath. "When you passed him up his face just went…" Cole imitated the driver's face before returning to her breathless laughing.

"It was priceless when he ran into the fuzz," Eames added as his fit calmed. "He rammed right into that police car."

"That poor cop." Cole began to wipe at her eyes with the back of her hand. They finally reached the front door, little chuckles escaping here and there. "We make a good team."

Eames closed the front door behind him as they walked into the large foyer. "How's that?"

"With our comebacks. We left those idiots dumbfounded." Cole began to make her way towards the staircase. Eames shoved his hands in his pockets and followed slowly.

"Yeah what was it you said about me?" Cole paused on the second stair. Oh God. "I think it was…a hunk of a sex machine."

Cole scrunched up her face. How to explain? Eames walked over to the staircase and waited for Cole to face him. She turned slowly, embarrassment clear in her deep brown eyes.

"What I meant by…I didn't mean that you're…I mean you probably are…I uhm…" She looked away from him trying to figure out what she did mean. Eames raised his eyebrows waiting, a small smirk hiding on his lips. "This isn't coming out right."

She was about to speak again but Eames stopped her by placing a hand over hers. Cole's mouth closed as she looked into his mysterious gaze. Eames could have taken her into his arms with one sweeping movement and kissed her and it would have been terribly romantic. However he was not the romantic type but being with her made him want to be the Mr. Darcy type, or Heathcliff perhaps.

He was seconds away from doing this when…

"EXPLAIN YOURSELF!" This was followed by a door slamming shut. Sandra came running out to the foyer, Alan hot on her heels. Sandra's eyes lit up at the sight of Eames. She flung herself towards him. Eames stood there confused and helpless as the woman clung to him like a barnacle on the bottom of a ship. Alan gapped at this scene.

"What's happening?" Cole asked looking between her father and Sandra.

"Tell them darling," Sandra said to Eames. She let go of him, surprisingly, and stood firmly at his side.

"Tell them what?" Eames asked.

"It's alright sugar. There is no need to hide it anymore." Eames looked at Alan and shrugged.

"I am totally lost pet. What are you on about?"

"Yeah what the fuck are you on about?" Cole was growing impatient. Things were beginning to look and sound like a soap opera.

"Alan I am leaving you because…" Dramatic pause. "Eames and I are involved," she blurted. Her head snapped towards Eames, a sweet smile on her face. She planted an affectionate kiss on his cheek. "We are in love. We are going to run away together."

"What?" Alan asked through clenched teeth. Eames's eyes went wide.

"No, no, no, no, no!" He pried the secretary off of him and moved close to Cole. "Mr. Hareton you have to believe me. I never said any such thing to her or expressed that I wanted any of that."

Sandra was about to say something but was quieted. "If you value your life you won't sat another word," Cole warned. Alan thought for a long while and finally came to his decision.

"Miss Sandra Swan I am dismissing you. Leave now." She stood there looking at her "love" and then to Alan. "Now," Alan repeated in a harsh whisper.

She left quickly, the door barely made an audible sound as it closed behind her. Alan stared knives at Eames before retreating to his private study.

"What did you do?" Cole asked slowly. Eames turned around to face her.

"_Me_? I don't see how _any_ of this is _my_ fault." Cole made a sound of disbelief and began to head up the stairs. Eames followed.

"You must have said _something_ to make her think…"

"I didn't say anything Nicole! This is not my fault!" She spun around is the hallway leading to her winding staircase.

"Oh really? I told you _not_ to go after Sandra did I not? I told you that she was engaged to my father! But did you listen? Oh no, not you. Not Mr. Look At Me I'm So Charming…"

Just then an explosion came from downstairs. Both of them looked to each other and then ran downstairs. They met up with everyone else at the door to their workroom.

"What the hell is going on," Arthur asked. "First I heard shouting clear across the yard to the guest house and now…"

Yusuf opened the door of the study coughing. His face and part of his clothing was covered in black soot. "I'm okay. Everything is okay," he announced.

"Yusuf what are you doing in there?" asked Cobb.

"Just…a few experiments. That's all. Nothing important." He glanced to Cole.

"Daddy," said a quiet voice from the door. Phillipa was holding her brother's hand in the doorway leading out to the back yard. James was on the verge of crying, the big noise had scared him greatly. Cobb walked over to his kids and picked James up in his arms.

"It's alright sweetie." He took Phillipa's hand and said, "I'm going to put the kids back to bed. Yusuf try not to destroy the Hareton's home yeah?"

The chemist nodded still coughing a little. Cobb took his kids back to the guest house asking if they were okay and trying to find a good way to explain what was going on.

"Yusuf you aren't experimenting with weed again are you?" Ariadne asked.

Yusuf looked at her shocked. "No."

"Yusuf," she said with a tone. She sounded like a mother asking her child if they had really done all their homework.

"No, no I swear. I'm not."

"Good cause the last time you did that you got really weird for months."

"Haven't touched it. Promise." Ariadne considered this and then decided she was too tired to deal with figuring out what he was really up to.

"Alright. C'mon Arthur let's go back to bed." She took his hand and waved to the others goodnight.

"Night," Arthur said as he was being tugged away.

"Night," Yusuf responded happily. "Oh Cole I need you for a moment," he said as she and Eames began to walk away. Cole came back over, Eames waited to the side. "I need some different DNA. The gum wasn't a stable substance and backfired."

"Really?" Cole asked sarcastically. She sighed. "What do you need?"

He thought for a moment. "A finger nail perhaps." He took out a pair of scissors while Cole held out her hand for him. He clipped a few nails and smiled gratefully. She gave him a little smile back before heading for the stairs again.

"What was that about?" Eames asked while following her up the winding stairs.

"None of your business," she said irritable.

"C'mon Nicole," he was saying. "We were having a good time tonight. Let's not ruin it by fighting."

Looking around she found herself back in the foyer. She was up on the stairs in some kind of velvet red flamenco dress. The forger was standing before her dressed as Zorro, kneeling on one knee, with a rose in his hand.

"This is weird," she mumbled to herself. "I'm going to go upstairs. I'm still upset with you Eames," she told him. She made it up a few steps before Zorro Eames pulled out his whip. He snapped it and the rope curled around Cole's hips. He tugged the whip causing Cole to spin down each step, her dress fanning out around her.

Zorro Eames caught her in his arms. He removed the mask and hat before dipping her and going in for a kiss.

Cole woke to the sound of coughing. Eames coughed once more and then adjusted in his sleep. Cole watched him, hating the fact that she had dreamt about him. She groaned and turned over so she didn't face him. Pressing her pillow over her face, Cole tried to go back to sleep.

**AN: I'm using study time for story time. Is that wrong? Anyway...here is the next little bit. Hope you like ^_^ Thanks for reading and for the reviews. **

**I only own INCEPTION if I get the DVD. Otherwise I own nothing  
**


	13. Chapter 13

Over the next few weeks the dreams persisted. Eames showed up more times than she cared to count. She would wake up agitated, glare at the sleeping intruder, and go back to sleep only to have another dream about him. And he always appeared in new forms. He had shown up as Jareth the Goblin King, Aladdin, The Phantom of the Opera, Angel from Buffy, and lastly Heathcliff.

Cole found herself walking over to a figure sitting on the slope of a hill. As she got closer the figure turned and she saw, who else, Eames. The distance closed between them and Eames took her into his arms.

"Why didn't you come sooner? I've waited for you for weeks."

"Why does this keep happening?" She looked around her and then back to Eames in his period clothing. She hated how much she loved the way he looked. She hated that her heart wanted nothing more than to stay in his arms. She hated playing the part of Cathy to his Heathcliff.

"Why haven't you come to me darling?"

"I haven't been able to get away," confessed her "Cathy heart".

"Cole," he whispered sweetly. He took her face between his hands and pulled her closer. She had no time to react before he kissed her. Cole wanted to pull away but her role of Cathy wouldn't let her.

The sun wasn't even up when her eyes snapped open. The gray light of early morning barely lit up her room. Cole sat up in bed and crossed her arms. She opened the curtain around her bed and glared at the sleeping man. She hated how she could always feel his touch for hours after. Out of all the people she could dream of why did it always have to be him? Cole thought about this until the sky turned pink, orange, and blue with the rising sun.

On the way down to the study Cole yawned and rubbed at her eyes. The rest of the team was setting up the PASIV machine when Eames and Cole entered the room. Cobb pulled Cole to the side while everyone prepared.

If he was talking Cole didn't hear a thing. She was so tired that Cobb's voice sounded like the adults in Charlie Brown. She continued to yawn and rub her eyes. She felt like her head weighed a thousand pounds and she could barely keep it up. She startled awake when Cobb shook her shoulder a little and called her name.

"Cole are you listening to me?"

"Hu?" she replied sleepily. Cobb gave her a look of disproval.

"We're going to have to move faster with locking up your subconscious. I need you focused and ready to work harder on getting up to par with your skills and…NICOLE!" She snapped awake again.

"What? I didn't do it!" Cole looked at Cobb's face and saw the disappointment. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry Cobb. I haven't been sleeping well the last few weeks."

"What's the matter? Are you okay?" he asked very concerned.

"Yeah it's just…" Cole hesitated. "I've been having dreams about…"

Cobb put a hand on her knee and leaned closer. "You can tell me anything Cole. It's okay."

"I've been having dreams about…Eames," she said as quietly as possible.

"Eames?" asked Cobb is a rather loud voice. Cole's eyes widened in horror. She smacked Cobb's arm. "Ow."

"Need something Cobb?" Eames had been close by when Cobb had blurted his name.

"Could you check in with Yusuf and make sure everything is ready to go," he said thinking quickly. Eames looked between the extractor and the girl suspiciously. He nodded and headed towards the chemist.

"Could you be any louder?" Cole asked after Eames was out of hearing range. Or so she thought.

"So you hit me?"

"I'm sorry. I just don't want him or anyone to know."

"First, Eames needs to stop teaching you to hit with so much power. Second Cole, it's not a big deal. There is nothing wrong with dreaming about…"

"There is _everything _wrong with dreaming about _him_." Cole tugged her head in the direction of the cocky forger. That is to say the cocky and _eavesdropping _forger.

Cobb thought for a moment. "How is he appearing in your dreams?"

"What do you mean?" she asked dragging her hands over her face.

"What is his significance in these dreams? What role does he usually play?"

Cole could feel heat rising from her neck and up to her cheeks. "He usually is the…" She searched for the right word. "…romantic, significant other, other half of the couple."

"Really?" he asked in disbelief. Cole gave him a look. "Well I mean it just doesn't seem like you two…" He cleared his throat. "Maybe your subconscious is trying to make you realize something."

Cole looked at him disgusted. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Well…" Cobb shrugged.

"Oh God!" She buried her face in her hands. Cobb stroked her head with a little smile on his face.

"Everything is set," Yusuf announced. Cobb got her set up while the others found their spots. She took a deep breath, avoided looking at Eames, and closed her eyes.

The swaying of the boat was almost hypnotizing. All of them were tied up to the mast of the ship. Well most of them were. Cobb was standing in front of them with long curly black hair, a red overcoat, and a hook replacing one of his hands.

"Really?" he asked Cole, or in this case Wendy.

She shrugged. "Maybe my subconscious is trying to make me realize something," she said with an innocent smile.

"Where is Eames?" asked the Tiger Lily version of Ariadne. They all looked around but didn't see him. "And Arthur. We're missing Arthur too."

Suddenly a little ball of light came flitting towards them. It flew around Cobb's head, towards Ariadne, and then hovered in front of Cole's face. She squinted against the bright light to see a little familiar face.

"Oh my God," she laughed hysterically. "Arthur?"

"I hate you so much right now." It was Arthur alright. His face was lined with delicate blond curls. Glitter simmered all around him as his wings flitted. Ariadne looked at her Arthur horrified and amused at the same time.

"So miss Tinkerbelle," Cobb said walking over to the glowing light that was Arthur. "Have you seen Mr. Eames?"

Arthur glared at Capitan Cobb and threw fairy dust at him. Cobb sneezed and flew backwards a few feet.

"Yeah I saw him. He'll be down in a sec." Sure enough a shadow passed over the ship. Eames came swooping in for a landing. He skidded to a stop in front of them and placed his fists on his hips. He was in all green, including tights, with a little red feather sticking out of his cap.

He cleared his throat before saying, "So what are we locking up today?"

Cobb came back rubbing his nose. He took one look at Eames and then looked to Cole, an eyebrow raised. "I see," he said. Cole tried not to look embarrassed. It just figured that the love interest of Wendy was Peter Pan..

Just then a pirate, that looked very similar to Alan Hareton, brought a prisoner out. He pushed the young boy in a long nightgown and a top hat toward the plank. Eames caught a glimpse of the face of the boy.

"Isn't that your brother Cole?"

"Marty?" The young boy turned and sure enough it was Marty.

"It's okay Nicole," he said with a smile.

"What's okay?"

"I have to do this."

"What?" Marty was heading towards the plank by his own now. "Marty I don't…"

"What's going on?" Cobb asked. "Cole?"

"My brother, Marty, five years ago he drowned. He was home alone practicing for his swim team. He slipped and hit his head. He fell in the pool and drowned."

"Are you sure?" piped up Arthur. "That's not the way it's looking." Marty was half way down the plank now.

"I'm…I'm sure. That's what my parents…" Something was pulling at Cole's mind. Some memory was trying to burst through.

"Think Cole," chimed in Ariadne at her side. "Is there something else to this? Something hidden?"

Cobb walked over and freed the two girls from the mast. Cole walked towards Marty and tried to open her mind to the memory. She closed her eyes and dove into her mind. She was sixteen at the time. She walked into her room and found a note waiting under the picture of her and Marty. She picked up the note and focused on what was written.

_**It's okay Nicole. I have to do this.**_

This was all she could read before hearing her father's cry from outside. She opened her balcony and looked down into the backyard. Her father was scooping Marty out of the pool.

Cole's eyes opened as she took a shuddering breath. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Marty was now at the end of the plank now holding the note in his hand.

"Oh Marty," she whispered. He turned at the end of the plank to face her. "He killed himself," she told the others.

"You know I love you," Marty told her. "But I can't stay here…"

"…knowing what he's done to her," Cole finished. She knew the words from reading his note over and over.

"Our mother," they said together. "He drove her over the edge. All the lying, the issues, always putting the company before us. It drove her to attack her own child and into an early grave. Knowing that, I can't stay with him. You're strong. You'll survive. But I'm too much like her. He will break me just like he did her."

Marty stood on the edge of the plank. Cole gave him a weepy smile. "Bye Marty."

The boat rocked a little more as a wave came up to the ship carrying a giant clam. The clam opened its mouth and allowed Marty to enter. He sat in the clam, it closed its mouth, and the wave brought it back down into the ocean. Cole ran onto the plank to watch it go down into the blue of the water. Another wave shook the boat again and Cole slipped. She began to fall towards the water.

Just as she was about to hit she closed her eyes. She could feel her dream world starting to tremble around her. It all stopped just as suddenly as it had started. Cole felt arms around her and a cold wind blowing all around her. She opened her eyes to see she was flying above the water. Eames was cradling her in his arms as he headed for the island. He landed carefully and set her down. The woods around them were lit up by little fairies. Cole began to walk and Eames followed.

"Thought it was brilliant you made Arthur into Tinkerbelle," he said after a long silence. Cole didn't respond. Eames tried to lighten the mood by flying around her. He tried new tricks and failed. He even ran into a tree while trying to fly backwards. Not even a chuckle came out of her.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do Eames," she said as he stood rubbing his head. "But I just want to wake up."

Eames scooped her up in his arms and took off towards the sky. She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. She squeezed her eyes shut as the wind made her tears feel like drops of ice on her face.

"Keep your eyes shut," he whispered at her ear. Cole didn't even peek. "Deep breath." She took one in and removed her arms from around his neck. She spread them out just before he released her. Wind filled every space around her, chilling her body.

Cole took the wristband off and stood, ignoring the dizziness. The rest of them didn't say a word. They let her walk out of the room without trying to stop her or asking questions. Eames only went to look for her when lunch was being served. Cobb had always told them never to operate on an empty stomach, that it wasn't good for the mind or body.

Eames found her sitting out on the patio looking out at the pool. She was curled up in a lounge chair clutching her brother's note. He approached quietly and pulled another lounge chair beside her. He leaned his elbows on his knees as he sat silent besides her. After a little laps of time Eames reached over and placed a hand over hers. Cole's head bent as she tried to hide tears. Little sobs escaped from her as she let more and more tears flow. Eames tugged on her arm a little, pulling her into his lap. She allowed him to cradle her and rested her head on his shoulder. His arms circled around her as protection, a safe domain for her to dwell for a short time.

**AN: Oh Winter Break, you complete me! I will finally have time to get some good writing done. YAY! Well once again I say thank you for the reviews. Sorry I have not gotten to update sooner. Hope you are still enjoying the story. I can't wait to write the next part. I have a good idea hatching in my brain ^_^ **

**OH! One more thing. I found a good song I think would work for Cole and Eames **

Love Song Requiem ~ Trading Yesterday

**What do you think?**


	14. Chapter 14

It was way too easy and far too tempting. She lay asleep on the couch and the PASIV machine sat nearby calling to him like a Siren. He walked quietly over to the couch and knelt down by her. Her breathing was steady and her face was very relaxed. She was exhausted from weeks of locking up secret after secret. Sometimes they would lock up two at a time.

Eames glanced at the silver suitcase, still beckoning to him. _I could go in for a few minutes,_ he thought. They were the only two in the house. Cobb was taking the kids to the airport, Ariadne and Arthur went to a museum, Yusuf was shopping for herbs, and Alan went into the office. Besides if anyone did happen to walk in he could claim they were in a training session.

"Just a few minutes," he said looking at the sleeping girl.

Soldiers cheered and clapped as Cole and two other projections got up on stage. The band started up and Cole and the projections automatically began to sing Candy Man. Her eyes were locked onto the main attraction. Eames sat at a table, beer in hand, knowing that she was singing about him.

"He had tattoos up and down his arm. There's nothing more dangerous than a boy with charm." These words made it all too obvious that she meant him. A smile graced his features before sipping from his beer. The song ended, the soldiers went wild, and Eames made his way to Cole.

He offered her his hand as she walked down from the stage. "How kind of you Lieutenant Eames."

"I am an officer and a gentleman," he said placing a kiss on her hand.

"Well you are an officer." She smiled wickedly at him as he faked offence. She laughed pleasantly as they walked to a table. "So what are you doing here?"

Eames had a second of panic thinking she knew. But there was no way she could have. "Well it seems there is a war going on my dear."

She looked around her and nodded. "Yes I suppose there is." Soldiers were asking ladies to dace, flirting, or purposing all around them.

"How about it Cole?"

"How about what?"

"Dance with me."

"Is that a command or a request?" she laughed.

Eames shrugged. "Either or."

"Alright." She presented her hand and waited for him to take her to the floor.

He shook his head. "Not here." He got up from his seat, smiling at a very confused Cole.

Eames began to walk through the projections. He gestured for her to follow. She got up and did her best to push her way through. She glimpsed him passing through a door and followed. When she stepped through everything had changed. She was now on a moving train and went from wearing a Navy uniform to a midnight blue 1930s dress.

"Stunning." Eames was leaning against the door of a compartment.

"I thought you wanted to dance. Not to play games." Eames leered at her.

"What's the matter? Don't you like my games?" He unhitched himself from the door and walked towards her. She surveyed him carefully. "No? Well then after you."

Eames opened another door to a compartment. But this was not an ordinary compartment. The scene changed once again. Cole stepped into the room which had become a lavish and exquisite ballroom. Her 1930s dress melted into a gown fit for any respectable woman. Eames closed the door behind him, the room becoming complete.

"My lady." Eames bowed now dressed like a Disney prince. He offered her his hand and twirled her towards him. A music box type of tune began to play. They danced for what seemed to be hours. They slowed from their rhythmic twirling and enjoyed the music until they came to a full stop. Eames held Cole in his arms comfortably. They leaned into each other without questioning anything.

Their lips were inches away from each other when new music interrupted. Cole pulled away, her hands pushing against his chest.

"Is that the kick?" she asked.

**AN****: Well it looks like Eames is in big trouble now. How will Cole take his intrusion? We'll just have to see… **

**Je T'aime by Kelly Sweet is the music box tune  
**


	15. Chapter 15

"Come now darling. This really isn't a big deal," he said trying to sound nonchalant. His jaw hurt from where her fist had connected with bone.

"Not a big deal? You're shitting me right?" Eames shrugged. "What made you think it was a good idea to hook me up and come into my head without permission?"

"I heard you've been dreaming about me. Naturally I got curious."

"Yeah well curiosity killed the cat," she said angrily and picking up a pillow.

"Well this cat is still alive," he said proudly.

"Unfortunately," she said throwing the pillow at his head. Eames ducked and pointed a finger at her.

"Watch it Cole."

"_Or what? _Hmm? What are you going to do Eames? You going to attack me?" She began to pick up more pillows and throw them. "You stupid, egotistical, lying, son of a…"

Cole was cut short by Eames catching a pillow and throwing it back at her. It hit home, sending Cole into more of a rage. Eames laughed as he saw annoyance and more anger rise. Cole charged at him. He caught her fist before it could do damage.

"Oh good another fight session."

Cole spun around twisting his arm behind his back. Cole tugged and smiled when Eames groaned in pain. He maneuvered out of her hold and kicked her legs out from under her. He pinned her to the floor easily. Her waist and legs were trapped between his legs and her wrists were held above her head. Cole pointlessly struggled to wiggle free.

"I have to say Cole you are a very passionate girl. And I loved a woman with fire."

Cole stopped struggling for a moment. "Gah you are so annoying and a total asshole!"

"I love it when you talk nasty about me." He winked at her and smiled.

"Let me up Eames."

"You promise to stop attacking me?" Cole just looked at him. "If you don't I'll be forced to do something drastic."

"Whatever just let me up!" Eames stood and offered his hand. Cole slapped it away and stood. Knowing that she was going to attack him again, Eames pushed her up against the wall. "_That_ was your 'something drastic'?"

"No. Finishing what I started in the dream is." Before she could say anything Cole felt the cool touch of Eames's lips. Her noises of disapproval were muffled by his mouth covering hers. She kept trying to make herself hate his touch but her heart was not having any of that. The second Eames parted from her Cole pulled him back. One hand ran through his hair, fingers caressing his scalp, while the other hand was tucked under his jacket and rested on his lower back. Eames had one hand pressed against the wall while his other slid slowly down to the small of her back. Their breath became more audible as their lips got more acquainted with each other.

"Nicole," sounded her father's voice. "I'm home."

Cole broke away from Eames. She ducked under his arm and hastily walked out of the study still trying to catch her breath. Eames remained with eyes still closed taking in slow deep breaths.

**AN: Well there is nothing like a first kiss hu? I don't know about you but I would kiss Eames any day. Let's see if Cole can figure out what her heart wants shall we… **


	16. Chapter 16

God was she tired. Three dream sessions and five secrets locked up in one day. Cobb was really pushing it these days. She knew the dangers of her situation but still. No one had attempted a kidnapping this far and Cole doubted it would happen. Even if it did happen the cops, the K-9 units, hell even the CIA would get her back before anything bad happened.

She just needed to take a break, to relax, to be alone. After dinner she headed for the snow covered backyard. Cole loved to walk around the yard and especially through the woods surrounding her house. She loved walking the different paths lined with old fashioned lampposts. When she was younger she would imagine she were in Narnia or some kind of fairytale.

The sound of a stream became louder. Through the trees Cole could see the lights that lined the gazebo and the little bridge leading to it.

"You shouldn't be walking alone." Cole sighed. Couldn't she have one moment to herself? She turned slowly to face him.

"Well I am obviously not alone. With the K-9 unit, the SWAT team, and you stalking me I haven't been alone for a month and a half."

Eames removed his jacket and threw it around her. "It's freezing out here." He rubbed her arms to get the warming process started. From that point on they walked in silence. The only sounds were the crunching of snow, the stream, and their feet as they crossed over the bridge to the gazebo.

"You're angry with me." It wasn't a question. Cole sat at the table set up in the gazebo. Eames remained standing.

"How'd you guess?" she asked sarcastically.

"You haven't been speaking to me. When you don't speak to me it always means you're angry."

"Bravo." She clapped a couple of times before clutching his jacket to her. She hadn't realized how cold she was. His smell drifted up to her as a wind passed.

"Why?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Eames looked at her in disbelief.

"You're still angry about that?"

"I think I have a right to be don't you?"

"_Please_," he scoffed putting his hands on his hips.

"You hooked me up and entered into my personal thoughts! You had no right to do that."

"It was five weeks ago. Move on! And I told you my reasons!"

"Curious or not it was a douchebag move and you know it," Cole said standing.

Eames nodded. "I suppose kissing you was a douchebag move too hmm?"

"The way you went about it certainly was not something a gentleman would do to a lady."

"Get over yourself Nicole! You are not the lady you pretend to be."

"How dare you," she said shocked.

"And don't pretend like you didn't want the kiss. You kissed me back willingly."

"Is that what your twisted mind is telling you?"

Eames took a couple of steps towards her. "For God's sake woman! Stop playing this ridiculous game and just admit it!"

"Admit what exactly?"

"That you like me, that you care, that you are capable of feeling some other human emotion besides hate!"

Cole let out a burst of laughter. She walked past him heading toward the bridge. Before leaving the gazebo she turned back to face him.

"Do you really think I could ever _like _or at the most _care_ for someone like you?"

Eames looked at her in amazement. He had heard hateful words from women before but never had they actually stung him. "You, Cole, are a heartless bitch."

"And you're a pompous asshole." She shrugged. "Nothing we can do about it."

She took off his jacket, threw it to him, and began to walk back to the house. Once inside she tried to remove all the snow from her shoes, hair, and clothing. As she did this she felt a presence behind her. She turned to see Yusuf holding a lock of her hair and scissors.

"Yusuf! What are you doing? And what happened to your eyebrows?"

Yusuf wiggled his brow, now absent of eyebrows. "The nail clippings I was using for the formula fought back. I thought hair might be the key."

"Do you need to take that much?"

Yusuf considered this for a moment. "I suppose a few strands will suffice."

Cole took the scissors from him and cut off a few hairs. Yusuf put them into the little bag he had brought along.

He smiled and said, "Much obliged."

The next day Cole was to go into Eames's head to see how her fighting skills fared in the dream world. Yusuf hooked them up, set the time, and let them get started.

Eames looked around but didn't see her. He scanned the faces and tried to think of where she might be. He wiped the projections out so that he might be able to find her easier. Standing in the middle of the empty street Eames for the life of him could not spot Cole.

A car came peeling around the corner, barreling full speed towards the unsuspecting forger. The car hit him sending him a few feet back. He hit the ground hard and lay on the pavement stunned. The driver got out and walked towards him. They blocked out the sun that blurred Eames's vision as they bent over him.

"Oopse," she said. "I didn't see you there."

"Cole what the hell is wrong with you? Is there something wrong upstairs?"

"You mean am I mental like my mother? No but thanks for the concern. But let's just say payback is a bitch." Eames groaned. He should have known.

For the next hour in the dream state Cole would attack him in some new way. Punching, throwing heavy objects, pushing him off buildings but making sure it would not end the dream. He would always be standing somewhere new and would just have to wait for her next hit. The part he hated most was that her mind was stronger than his. Because of her training and abundance of imagination she dominated his mind. And because of this Eames could not end the dream himself by the usual means. No Cole made sure that she could have a full hour of pack back.

**AN: Oh dear. I've made her quite nasty haven't I? Poor Eames. But hey you have to go through some rough patches to get to the good days. And there are good days coming up. Promise. **

**Well two updates in one night. Yay me. And yay to all of you who read this, review, and like this story. Bravo us! ^_^ **

**I was inspired by Maroon 5's video for Misery for Cole's payback. Love Maroon 5 and that song. **


	17. Chapter 17

"What are we supposed to do now?" asked Zek.

"Hareton knows we are going to be coming after her. He's hired a team," said Alex with great concern. "And not just any team mind."

"What do you mean?" inquired Jeff. The whole room turned to look at him. "I mean…what's so special about this team?"

"Cobb and his men are the best at mind security. They are not to be messed with. Their architect is especially skilled," answered Craig. Sure Jeff was a rookie but he should know about Dom Cobb and his group.

"I heard that she created a building that had no windows and some guy went mad in there and never got out," said Zek. More of them began to tell rumors that they had heard about Cobb's team.

"That's enough," said Vlad. "It seems Alan is smarter than I gave him credit for." The room laughed. Vlad paced while thinking of a plan. What to do, what to do?

"I don't see how Cobb is an issue," said Jacob, who had been quiet until now. "He can't stop us. So what if he is training the girl. We can sneak in and get to her. I have a friend who works for the K-9 unit. She can get a few of us in and…"

"No," Vlad said never breaking his pattern.

"But Vlad…"

"I said no Jacob." Jacob looked at him in defiance. "It is too dangerous and it is a very idiotic plan. You'd get caught the second you got close to her. Cobb has his forger attached to her and that man would not hesitate to kill you."

Jacob made to speak again but Vlad held up a hand to stop him. Jacob spoke anyway. "Just hear me out. My friend could get me in when they are doing a training session. I can either take her right then and there or I can go straight into her mind."

"Jacob do you have a hearing problem?" Confused he shook his head. "And English is your first language obviously." He nodded. "Good, good. Then is there any reason why you did not hear what I just said?"

"I just think…"

"I said no!" No one dared to breathe. "That plan is full of holes and you are setting yourself up for disaster. I will not have this team or this plan jeopardized by your dumb ass! Understand me now?"

Jacob fumed silently. Who was Vlad to talk about stupid plans? He was the one who got involved with Alan in the first place.

"So this is what is going to happen. We will let Cobb do his task and train her. Once they have done with her and left we will go in. Whatever locks she puts on those secrets will be easily broken. No mind can lock up that much information. There will be a crack, a leak, and that will be our way in."

Everyone, but Jacob, agreed and went their own ways. Jacob caught up to a few of them.

"Amanda, Zek, Quin do you all agree with Vlad?"

"Well he does have a good point man," said Quin.

"Yeah I mean how can one mind hide all of those secrets? I know people call her the vault but still," added Amanda.

"And you Zek?" asked Jacob turning to him. Zek hesitated.

"I think it's a great idea," said an excited voice behind them. They turned to see the rookie, who had been following them. Jacob rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing here kid?"

"Well I was calling for you guys…but I guess you didn't hear. But, but I think you are totally right Jake."

"First, don't call me Jake. Second, I didn't include you in this conversation so get lost."

Jacob went back to talking to the other three. Jeff took the hint and began to walk away.

"So what do you say Zek?"

"I say that if you want to pull this off you need as few people as possible."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning you can count me out Jacob. If you have too many unfamiliar people the security will catch on. So count me out." Zek looked to Amanda and Quin. His eyes told them to get as far away from this plan as possible.

"Quin?" Jacob's eyes were cold and harsh. Quin shook his head and took a step closer to Zek. "Amanda?"

"I'll do it. There is some logic to your plan. What's the harm in trying?" Jacob smiled lovingly at her. "But we should have at least one more person."

Jacob spun around to see Jeff just about to turn the corner. He told Amanda he would get their third person. He turned and ran down the block and caught up with Jeff.

"You're in. You, me, and Amanda. This is our plan." Jeff's heart beat with excitement. Finally he'd get to prove himself and show that he was no rookie.

**AN: Happy Holidays to everyone! Hope they were good. Here is my gift to you ^_^ Updates! Yay**


	18. Chapter 18

"A visitor for you miss," said one of the servants. The woman stood aside to let in a good looking young man. His suit was pressed to his body finer than Arthur's. His frosty blue eyes lit up in the sun light as he entered the room. The man's porcelain complexion made his dark hair stand out.

"Robbie!" Cole ran over to her visitor excited. The whole team tensed as one upon seeing Robert Fischer trapped in Cole's arms. They glanced to each other with the same worry. Would he possibly remember seeing all of them at the airport?

"Hi C," he replied with a friendly smile. They quickly kissed and Eames felt his heart skip. Damn Robert Fischer. "How have you been?"

"Fine. Better now that you're here. What _are_ you doing here?"

"Well I missed my best friend. I haven't seen you in so long and I…" Looking over her shoulder Robert eyed the team. "Who are they?" he asked her under his breath.

"Oh uhm," she turned and surveyed Cobb and the rest. "They are…working with my father. And I am helping them with some stuff."

"I see. Well I don't mean to be rude but could I steal you away for a bit? I'd just feel better if we could talk in private."

"Oh yeah." She turned to the rest of them and said, "Cobb could we take a little break?"

"Of course Cole. Just remember that we have to get some work done today." She nodded, linked her arm with his, and dragged Robert out of the study. While they made their way to the backyard he kept looking back and frowning.

"What's the matter Robbie?"

"Nothing. I just…I feel like I've met them before."

"Really? Well maybe you have."

"I don't know. There's just something about all of them that makes me feel uneasy." Cole looked at him concerned. "It's nothing C. Just a bad case of déjà vu." He smiled and patted her hand as he tucked it around his arm.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it to your father's funeral," she said as they walked through the yard.

"It's alright. I understand. I got the flowers from you and your father."

"Oh good," she said with a little smile. "How have you been?"

He smiled. "Good. I've been making some major changes to the company. Its thrived more now than ever."

"I heard. That's so great Robbie. I'm proud of you," she said squeezing his arm. "And I'm sure your father is too." Robert smiled at her lovingly.

"So what's with the high security?" he asked taking notice of a cop and his hairy partner walking by. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh. Yeah well my idiot father got mixed up with the wrong people. It's a long, annoying, tiresome story." She waved her hand as if to push that conversation away. They switched to talking about their younger days. How they and Marty would run around causing havoc and chaos.

"God do you remember when you and I took one of your father's prize horses?" she asked laughing.

"Oh yeah! And we couldn't get it across the river." They laughed together. "Or when our parents announced they wanted us to get married." They laughed.

Cole stopped laughing and considered the thought of marrying him. "I wish I had married you."

"At the time it seemed like such a strange thing. But thinking about it I would have liked to marry you too. I wish I still could." They stopped walking and Cole looked at her friend. "I'm engaged."

Cole's face lit up but there was some sadness in her eyes. "That's great. Robbie congratulations!" She hugged him tightly.

"She's not you but I do care for her. She is a lovely girl. I wanted to invite you and your father to the wedding. Of course."

"We'll be there." Robert smiled. He gave her a quick kiss and then they continued walking.

Meanwhile Eames had been watching them the whole time. He stood by a window of the study keeping an eye. Never had he been the jealous type but seeing him make her laugh like that made his heart ache and his stomach fill with butterflies. She had never laughed like that around him and she certainly had never looked at him like that. What made Robert Fischer so special?

"Having Cole issues?" Cobb asked coming up to Eames's side.

"When am I not having Cole issues?" he replied turning away from the window. Cobb chuckled.

"Did you fight with her?"

"Maybe." He plopped down on the couch, Cobb following him.

"Was it bad?"

"We said a few choice words to each other." Cobb shook his head. Eames sighed. "Have at it then. Tell me how mean I am and how I should make up and play nice."

"You're in love with her aren't you?" This caught Eames by surprise. Cobb was not giving his usual speech.

"Who's in love with who?" Ariadne asked as she and Arthur joined them.

"Eames is in love with Cole," Arthur answered. Eames glared at him.

"Awww," Ariadne said in a sweet voice. "Eames that's so cute."

"No its not. And I'm not in love with that demon child."

"That's a strange pet name for her," Ariadne said trying not to laugh. Eames grabbed her and rubbed his knuckles on her head, like a big brother would do. She laughed and pulled out of his grip.

"Why won't you just admit you love her?" Arthur asked.

"She hates my guts. She said as much last night. What could I benefit out of telling her I love her?"

"Maybe if you stopped asking questions and just did as we say you would find out."

"Yeah? And maybe if you stuck your totem up your ass…"

"Alright that's enough," Cobb said. "Arthur is right. Just tell her and see what you get."

"Thanks for the fatherly advice," he said sourly. A plan then began to hatch in his mind. A possible way to get Cole to care.


	19. Chapter 19

"Mr. Hareton," he said catching up to him.

"What do you want Mr. Eames?" Alan was walking into his office in the city. Eames had followed him in that morning to fulfill his plan.

"I was wondering if you would be willing to meet someone." Alan stopped at the elevators. While waiting he turned to Eames.

"Meet someone? Who?"

"I have a friend I think you would like. She is a very sweet girl and I really think…"

"Are you trying to set me up on a blind date Mr. Eames?"

"I guess you could put it that way." Alan turned away, looking back to the elevator. "I thought it was least I could do since…Sandra."

A light seemed to go off in Alan's brain. He turned back to the forger and said, "Well I suppose it wouldn't hurt to meet other people."

"Oh good."

"Have her come to dinner tonight. We'll see what she is like." The elevator finally arrived and Alan stepped in with a slight smile. Eames walked out of the building very pleased with himself.

"Let's see bloody perfect Fischer top that," he said happily to himself. Eames found it funny that he had never once envied Robert Fischer for his money, power, or success. However when it came to Cole and her friendship it was a whole different story.

**AN: Sorry for the suspense on the good days. But they are coming! Promise you! **


	20. Chapter 20

"Is that wanker still here?" Arthur was sitting at the table in the kitchen doing research on another job. Eames looked out the sliding glass door to the backyard to see Cole and Fischer sitting in the garden. They were leaning close to each other yet stayed at a distance, body language suggesting a hidden want. Eames felt his teeth grind together.

"I think he is going to be here for a while," Arthur said without looking up from his work. "Let's just pray that the more he is around us memories don't start to come back."

"Yes that would put us in a bad spot," Eames replied absent mindedly. The thought of going out there and telling Fischer to jog on crossed his mind a thousand times. "Just wait old boy. You're time will come soon," he told himself under his breath.

"What?" Arthur looked up this time. "Did you say something Eames?"

"Hmm?" He turned away from the window. "No, no. Just talking to myself." Eames patted Arthur on the back as he walked out.

The rest of the day seemed to pass by slowly. Ariadne took out her totem a dozen or so times just to be sure. She began to feel as paranoid as Cobb used to be. Eames sat with her in the library of the mansion reading the paper while she drew sketches of impossible buildings to add to her collection.

"If you tip that thing over one more time I will throw it out a window," he said as she dipped into her pocket once again. She chuckled and proceeded to tip the gold bishop over. Nope they were still in reality.

"Why are you in here anyway?" she asked turning in her seat to see him. He folded the paper and crossed his legs.

"Why have you claimed this room? You going to tell me to leave?" That had been happening to him all day. Cobb had claimed some other study in the house and asked Eames to leave because his pacing was distracting. Arthur had moved from the kitchen to the family room and told him to leave because he did not desire Eames's company. Yusuf told him that he was not allowed in the study for top secret reasons. So naturally Ariadne was next on the list.

"No I don't want you to leave. I was just wondering. It seems like you're hiding from something." She looked at him innocently but he knew better. She knew what was going on but she had to hear him say it.

"If I tell you I have something in the works will you drop it?" She thought about this.

"Are you going to tell me what the plan is?" He was about to tell when his phone went off. He looked at the caller ID and smiled.

"Speaking of the plan," he said holding up his phone.

"Put it on speaker," she said excitedly and sat in the seat next to him. Eames put it on speaker and answered the call.

"Is that you my dearest?"

"I got your message Eames," answered a woman's voice. "So give me the details."

"Straight to business then. The man I told you about in the message wants to have dinner tonight. I think you two will get along."

"I don't know. The last time you tried to set me up with someone he turned out to be a convict."

"I thought you liked convicts," he said trying to sound hurt.

"You were the only one sweets." The woman paused for a moment. "I'll do it. Text me when and where and I'll be there tonight."

Eames hung up and texted her the address and the time with a big smile. Ariadne went over the conversation she had just witnessed and put it all together. A smile came to her own face.

"Very clever Eames. You make up for what happened with crazy Sandra, Alan hopefully finds love, and Cole will start giving you sweet looks."

"My genius amazes me sometimes," he said with a smug smile.

By the end of the night Eames was even more proud of himself. Alan was utterly head over heels for his friend, Kat, and she in turn was infatuated with Alan. They stayed together until two in the morning laughing and talking.

Cole was on her way up to bed when Alan and Kat were finally saying goodnight. She watched with curiosity as her father kissed the woman's cheek sweetly and said goodnight. Alan closed the front door and took notice of his daughter. Smiling he came over to her and kissed her forehead.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"That woman may be the sweetest person I have ever met. Well besides you of course." Cole looked at him. Her father had never been this sweet and it scared her a little. She had to admit it was a nice change.

"I'll have to meet her sometime." Alan nodded.

"You should get some rest. It's late." Cole turned and began to head towards the stairs. "Oh Nicole? Would you send Mr. Eames down to my office? I'd like to thank him."

"Thank him? For what?" By the time she turned around to face her father he was already walking away. What on earth could he thank Eames for?


	21. Chapter 21

"How is security?" Cobb rubbed his eyes and tried to pin down whose voice was talking to him. Phone pressed to his ear he lay his head back on the pillow.

"It is four in the morning Saito," he said finally placing the voice.

"Not where I am. It's ten in the morning for me."

"Well aren't you lucky."

"So? How is security?"

"You woke me up at four in the morning to ask me how security is? Shouldn't you be talking to Alan? He is the one who hired them." Cobb resisted a yawn.

"I know for a fact Alan did not do background checks on those people. If I call him out on it things will get worse. I've heard rumors in Germany that an attack on Cole is being planned. Has anything happened?"

"No. Everything is fine here. Security was doubled for extra precautions but nothing has happened."

"And Cole's progress?"

"She learns fast. She finds new ways to lock up secrets. There is no possible way for her seals to be broken."

"Good, good." Cobb detected worry in the man's voice. Saito wasn't kidding when he said he considered Cole to be his daughter.

"If it will help I'll have Arthur do background checks."

"It would help. Thank you Cobb. Take care of her. I'll try and make another visit as soon as I can." Cobb heard the dial tone and hung up his own phone.


	22. Chapter 22

"Time for a fight session." Cole and Fischer had just returned from having breakfast. Eames had been waiting like an eager puppy for their return.

"Now?" Cole whined.

"Let's go missy." Cole grudgingly followed Eames.

"He's giving you fighting lessons?" Robert asked following her.

"Uhm yeah. It's a kind of bonus to the work they are already doing? My father thought I should learn self defense." Robert bought her fib and didn't question it further. Eames led them out to the backyard.

"Thought we'd do it outside. More room to move," he said as she shadow boxed on the lawn. "Plus you need to learn to fight in different environments." Cole joined him on the lawn while Robert remained on the porch.

"Mind if I watch?"

"Not at all mate. Have a seat."

Cole was stretching her arms and legs when Eames made his first move. She tried to catch up but was knocked on her back regardless. Robert stood up outraged.

"That was an unfair move! She wasn't ready." Eames ignored his protest and helped Cole up.

"The first rule of fighting is be ready for anything," Cole said brushing the grass and leaves off her. Eames was impressed. His heart swelled with joy that she had been listening to him. They continued their fight session with Eames winning some times and Cole winning others. However their last fight was a win for Eames.

Cole ended up on her back, Eames right over her. He held her wrists above her head with one hand, the other hand held her waist down, and one leg between her legs. He put a little pressure on her waist with the heel of his hand making her gasp a little. His stomach was doing a thousand flips at once. He was so close that their heaving chests hit each other as they gasped for air.

"Don't kiss me Eames," she said breathless.

"Wasn't planning on it." Cole felt suddenly very happy that he was holding her wrists. She had the insane desire to tug and pull him closer until there wasn't an inch of space between them.

Robert stood and cleared his throat. The two of them snapped out of their secret desires and parted from each other. Eames told her he was impressed with her improvement and congratulated her on a good session. She thanked him and joined Robert.

"Oh Cole?" She came down from the porch back to Eames. "Some advice, if in any case something happens you run. Understand? You head to any exit, be it a door or a window or whatever. You get to that exit and you run, don't look back no matter what is going on, you just keep running. Understand?" She nodded, thanked him for the advice, and once again joined Robert.

**AN: Have you guys seen pictures of Tom Hardy shadow boxing? I have to say it's pretty adorable. I'd be nervous to fight him. He looks like he'd be a very good fighter. **


	23. Chapter 23

"Beautiful morning," Arthur said setting his coffee cup on the table. All of them were sitting in the garden having their breakfast. Everything was so relaxing. Birds were chirping, a slight breeze passed by, and the sun created beautiful colors on the clouds.

"It really is," Cobb said folding the newspaper he had been reading. "Good work Cole."

"What?" she asked with a mouthful of her breakfast.

"Everything is so vibrant and lively. Nice work."

She swallowed and looked around at all of them. "We're dreaming?"

"Are we?" Ariadne asked. "You know the ways to figure it out."

Cole scrambled for her totem. She set the little silver knight on the table in front of all of them. She had never worked with her totem in the dream state before. She remembered her lesson with Arthur about totems but it was still a little unclear.

"What now?" she asked. Eames nudged her and pointed at her totem. They all watched carefully as it turned from a bright silver to a rusty bronze color. "Cool. But wait I don't remember getting up this morning and starting a session."

"Yeah we may have kidnapped you from your room while you were sleeping," Ariadne said with a bashful smile.

"We brought you down to the study and hooked you up," Cobb confessed. "Sorry but we had to do some testing with your totem."

"It's fine Cobb. I understand."

They stayed in Cole's mind until late in the afternoon, what would be late morning in reality. They explored the different worlds she created and enjoyed every new building and scene. Ariadne even contributed to some of the layouts. They were all enjoying themselves except for Eames. He never made a sound but instead looked bored and annoyed.

When they woke they went their own ways, as usual. Cobb was on the phone with his kids, Ariadne and Arthur went for a walk, and Yusuf was testing more of the sample Cole had given him. Not being needed Cole made her way to the kitchen and began to help Jonathan, their cook, with lunch. She was cutting up vegetables when Eames walked in.

"What was all that then?"

"What are you talking about?"

"It's fine Cobb. I understand," he said in a mocking high pitched voice that made Jonathan laugh. "They went into your mind without permission and you roll out the big bloody red carpet. I do the same thing and you throw a royal fit."

"This was different Eames. Their intentions were honorable while yours were malicious and selfish."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh please. Don't stand there and tell me you wouldn't do the same. If you heard someone was dreaming about you wouldn't you want to go in and see for yourself?"

"No."

"Liar."

She ignored him and turned to Jonathan. "I think we are out of salt Jon."

"That's alright miss. I'll get some from the neighbors." He left the kitchen and made his way to the neighbor's. Eames and Cole were alone.

"Admit it you liked having me in your dream." As he walked by her he gave her a light tap on the butt. She paused in her cutting.

"Do that again and I will cut off the most important thing to you," she said dangerously turning the knife in her hand.

"Feisty," he said coming up behind her. He trapped her by putting his arms on either side of her. "I like feisty women."

Cole's heartbeat increased but she controlled it well. Putting the knife down she turned in his arms to face him. "Oh you do, do you?" He nodded leaning into her. "What about a very sweet girl."

"Sweet is good."

"Hmm no I bet you like a vixen. Someone who will tease you. A girl who knows how to get your heart racing…" She ran her hands over his chest before sliding them into his back pockets. Eames's breath hitched. "She'll make you think she wants a kiss but just before she'll say…"

He began to lean in. Cole took her hands out of his pocket and pushed him away.

"Too bad," she said with a wicked grin. Eames smiled and couldn't believe he fell for that. Cole resumed her work just as Jonathan came back with salt. Eames came up behind her again putting his lips right at her ear.

"You may not think so but you are a tease and a vixen. Making you the perfect woman for me." She paused and turned her head towards him a little. He kissed her temple, letting his lips linger, and then left. Cole ran his words through her mind over and over all day.

That night Cole couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned for hours. She pulled the covers up over her head, buried herself under pillows, but nothing worked. It was all because of him of course. Eames had been snoring louder than usual and coughing the whole night. Finally Cole sat up in bed throwing the covers off her head.

"Oh my God! Eames!" The snoring only continued. She got out of bed, pillow in hand, and walked over to his bed. "Eames."

She smacked him with the pillow, waking him instantly. He sat up mumbling something between English and British slang.

"What is it with you and bloody pillows?"

"Your snoring is like a train going through my brain."

"I can't breathe through my nose that well okay," he said before going into a coughing fit.

"Are you sick?"

He shrugged. "Hell if I know pet."

"You're useless. Does your throat hurt?" He thought for a moment and nodded. "Do you feel achy?" He thought again. Nodded. Cole pressed her hand to his forehead. She turned on a light on her way to the bathroom.

"Sit up," she said as she sat on the bed. She stuck a thermometer in his mouth and waited. While they waited Cole got another item from the bathroom. "Take your shirt off."

Eames raised his eyebrows but did as told. She unscrewed the lid of some jar and dipped her fingers in. She then began to rub whatever was in the jar on his chest.

"If I knew you were so keen on touching me I would have undressed earlier."

Cole shook her head. "You think you're so funny don't you?"

"I think I'm adorable." Cole tried to hide a smile but Eames saw it.

"It's vapor rub. It's supposed to help your coughing." He nodded and smiled a little. The thermometer beeped and Cole checked it. "103. You are definitely sick."

"What joy is mine," he said sleepily. Cole put the things away while Eames put his shirt back on. Cole came back and climbed up next to him on the bed.

"Turn on your side."

"Say again?"

"Turn on your side." He did as she said and turned away from her on his side. She began to slowly and rhythmically rub his back. "My mom used to do this when Marty and I were sick. It helped stop the snoring."

Eames chuckled. "Was it really that bad?"

"It was terrible," she responded with a little laugh. "Go to sleep Mr. Eames."

Morning came faster than she thought it would. Gray light woke Cole. She was still in Eames's bed and he was now facing her, lying very close. She considered going back to her own bed but wasn't able to move. Without thinking she reached out and began to lightly run her fingers through his hair. He moaned in reaction to her touch.

"What are you doing?" he asked with eyes still closed.

"Checking your fever," she lied. Cole felt his forehead. "I think it has gone down."

"Oh good."

"It's still early. You should rest for a few more hours." He nodded and adjusted. Cole once again considered going back to her bed. She was just about to get up when Eames's hand covered hers. His thumb ran over the back of her hand. She didn't dare move. Instead she closed her eyes and tried to sleep a few more hours.

An alarm went off signaling that it was time to get up. The sun was out more and lit up the room. Eames turned off the alarm and began to get out of bed.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting ready for work." He swung his legs over the bed instantly feeling the pounding pain of a headache.

Cole began to pull him back in bed. "Oh no you don't. You're too sick to do any work."

"I have never missed a day believe it or not. So I'm not going to start now."

"Eames if you don't rest you are only going to make yourself worse."

"Is that concern I hear in your voice love?" He smiled at her. Cole ignored it. "Look I need to work. I've never missed…" A sneeze prevented him from finishing.

"Look I'll make a deal with you. You can come down to work _if _you promise not to work."

"How's that?" he asked after sneezing again.

"You can be in the study with us but you have to lie on the couch and watch TV. You can read up on other jobs but nothing else. Okay?"

Eames thought about it. "Fine I guess."

"Alright. Get dressed. I'm going to get you some orange juice."

Cole walked into the kitchen to find Jonathan. "Good morning miss," he said pleasantly.

"Morning Jon," she said giving him a hug. "Do we have OJ? Our Mr. Eames is feeling poorly this morning."

"We certainly do." He got her a tall glass and filled it with juice. "I am going to the market today. I can get some soup if you'd like."

"That would be great. Thanks Jon."

"Not a problem miss."

Cole went back to her room with the glass. When she came in Eames was wearing his usual. "You can't wear that."

"And why not?" he asked pulling on his jacket.

"Because you are restricting yourself. You won't be able to breathe all over again."

"What are you a nurse?"

"No I just have motherly instincts. Don't you have anything else to wear?" He shook his head. "Then put your PJs back on."

"No. I'd like to look somewhat put together. Especially if Saito decides to drop in again."

"Alright. Here drink this," she said handing him the glass. "I think you'll fit into Marty's clothes. I'll be back."

Cole went down the winding stairs, down the hall, and into Marty's room. She opened his dresser and grabbed a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a hoodie. After Eames had changed and finished his juice they walked to the study. Cole told the rest why Eames would be sitting out while he made his way to the couch and plopped down. Throughout the day Cole checked in on Eames. She would lean over the couch to see if he was asleep. She felt his head for a fever and got him a bottle of water. Jonathan came in with lunch and set a bowl of soup in front of Eames. Cole sat with him during their lunch break to make sure he was okay.

"Isn't that so cute?" Ariadne said. "She does care for him."

"It's a miracle. Someone is capable to care for Eames," said Arthur. Ariadne smiled.

"Not everyone is as loveable as you babe." She stretched up and kissed his cheek.

"Oh for the love of…I can only handle one mushy scene while eating Ari," Yusuf said with a mouth full. She laughed and continued her cuteness with her Arthur.

The work load for the day was finished quickly. Cole locked up five more secrets within a few sessions. She had a lesson with Arthur, did some of Ariadne's mazes as well as talked about unrealistic buildings, checked on her project with Yusuf, and talked to Cobb about certain tricks to extraction. She knelt by Eames sleeping on the couch with a yawn. She hated how tired she got after sessions like she had that day.

Cole pressed a cool hand to his forehead causing him to moan. His eyes opened slightly and he turned on his side to face her.

"Looks like your fever is gone. That's good."

"Yay," she said quietly.

"How do you feel?"

"Like I was hit by a truck. I'm still achy and can't breathe properly. And don't get me started on my throat and head."

"Hmm well I should get you some aspirin." She began to stand when he grabbed her hand.

"No, no. Just keep your hand on my head. It felt good."

"Alright. Here sit up for a second." Eames leaned up, groaning in protest. Cole sat on the couch and put a pillow in her lap. She pushed Eames back down and began to stroke his head. He drifted back to sleep instantly.


	24. Chapter 24

With lots of rest and Cole's care, Eames got over his sickness within a week. It was during this time that Cole began to realize something. While caring for Eames as a patient she began to care for him as a person. She had never thought it possible but she was starting to have more dreams about him. She was even forcing herself to dream about him sometimes. She wanted to finish the dream that he had intruded on. She made it so they were still in the ballroom and they got the chance to kiss. This then led to her dreaming about their actual kiss.

The more and more she thought about that kiss the more she understood that she had liked and wanted it. However thinking about it was not helpful at all. It only distracted her from her work and made it hard to concentrate. Thinking about him, his smile, those eyes, the pressure of his lips, the way his hands felt on her skin…

"Cole!" She looked up to see Ariadne standing in front of the desk. Cole took out her headphones and paused her playlist.

"Something wrong Ariadne?"

"You've been working on the same maze for an hour." Cole looked down and realized that she had. A pile of mazes still sat in their usual corner of the desk.

"Oopse? Sorry Ari. I guess I'm a little distracted," she said risking a glance in Eames's direction. He was talking to Arthur and laughing.

"Are you okay? Cause I've got a lot of mazes for you. If you need a break…"

"I'll concentrate. I promise. Keep them coming." Ariadne nodded and set down five more papers. Cole put her headphones back in and made a vow to not look anywhere besides her work. This vow stuck for exactly an hour. Cole set down her pencil and stretched.

She looked around the room and saw Eames walking by. He was engaged in a phone conversation and took his time to walk about the room. As Cole watched for a little a particular song came across her headphones.

"There he goes, my baby walks so slow. Sexual tic-tac-toe. Yeah we both know it isn't time, no. But could you be m-mine."

Cole paused the song and took the headphones off. She sat at the desk feeling embarrassed. It was as if the song was saying her thoughts directly. It made her nervous, like Eames would be able to hear it. Oh what did Adam Lambert know anyway?

The rest of the day Cole forced herself to concentrate. Sure this included her having to turn the desk so she couldn't see him and she twitched in her seat but it was worth it. She finished all the mazes and went to plop down on the couch, extending her fingers every so often to relax her hand.

Eames came over shortly and sat beside her. Cole adjusted on the couch nervously. After learning about her new found feelings Cole had no idea how to act around Eames anymore. Unconsciously she began to bite her lower lip. She grew very conscious of his every movement and adjusted accordingly.

"Are you planning on biting a hole through those beautiful lips?" Cole jumped a little at his voice. She cleared her throat and shook her head. She released her lower lip and fidgeted in her seat. Unable to sit there doing nothing, Cole brought her middle finger to her mouth and began chewing on it. Her index finger and thumb formed an L shape to cradle her chin.

Eames reached over and took her hand from its position. Cole watched as his thumb rubbed gently over the teeth marks on her middle finger.

"What's the matter Cole?"

"Nothing," she said with a shrug.

"Nothing?" She nodded. "Chewing on yourself is something that I have never observed in you. So either you are incredibly hungry or something is wrong."

"I am incredibly hungry." She nodded trying to convince herself that she was hungry for food and not for his touch. "I'm going to see what Jon is making."

She began to get up but Eames caught her by the waist and tugged her down. Her legs lay across his lap as she was tucked in between the couch and him. His arm was lovingly wrapped around her waist as he looked down at her with those gray blue eyes.

"You're so hypnotizing. Could you be the Devil? Could you be an angel? Your touch magnetizing." She couldn't resist thinking this while lying there under his gaze.

"I have been watching you very closely, learning you, for the past three months. Something is wrong, different."

"It's nothing Eames. Promise. I'm fine." They sat there for a moment just watching each other. Eames opened his mouth as if he was going to say something. She waited for a moment watching as he fought with himself internally. When it seemed like he wasn't going to say anything Cole got up and left the study.

Eames cursed himself. He should have told her then and there that he loved her. But perhaps it wasn't meant to happen now. Christmas was coming up and he had the perfect gift in mind. Christmas was the time to tell her, it had to be.

**AN: You guys are great! Really! I love seeing your reviews. Like I've said before, they make my day. So thank you. Well looks like Cole has figured things out. Can't wait to write the next bit ^_^ **

**Fever- Adam Lambert and E.T. - Katy Perry are amazing songs  
**


	25. Chapter 25

"Merry Christmas Cole," they said in unison.

"Merry Christmas Phillipa, James." She kissed each child on the cheek and handed them gifts.

"Thank you," said Phillipa cheerfully.

"Thank you Auntie Cole," James said already ripping into the colorful paper. Phillipa took her brother's hand and pulled him along.

"Thank you for having them out here Cole."

"Of course Cobb. They are welcome anytime."

"Merry Christmas," he said hugging her. She grabbed a gift from under the massive tree in the foyer and handed it to him.

"Merry Christmas Cobb. Go have fun. Talk to people."

Cole grabbed some other gifts and handed them out to Ariadne, Arthur, and Yusuf. She picked up Eames's gift and began searching for him in the sea of people that now occupied the whole first floor of her home.

"Looking for me poppet?" She spun around to see him leaning in the doorway to the family room.

"How'd you know?" she asked walking over to him.

"Lucky guess." They smiled at each other warmly. A wave of happiness and excitement came over Eames as a look came into Cole's eyes. It was the look he had jealously seen her give Fischer. Now that look was directed at him and only him.

Eames was about to say something when Alan cut him off.

"Eamesy my boy!" He walked over to his daughter and the man cheerfully. He was wearing a Santa hat and holding the hand of the beautiful Kat, who was festively dressed as well.

"Merry Christmas Mr. Hareton," Eames said pleasantly. He and her father shook hands while Cole greeted Kat.

"Yes and a merry Christmas to my daughter." He gave Cole a kiss on the cheek and hugged her. Cole was still trying to adjust to her father's new found disposition. "Cole dear there is something I want to talk to you about. But first I must great our guests."

He gave her one last kiss on the cheek before rushing off with Kat to great people. Eames and Cole were finally alone again.

"Eamesy my boy?" Eames laughed. "What did you do to get him to call you that?"

"I introduced him to the new love of his life."

"You introduced him to Kat?" He nodded. "Oh Eames that was very sweet. I've never seen him happier. The change she's brought out of him is very…impressive."

"Well I thought I should make up for the Sandra incident."

"Well done," she said truly impressed. He smiled at her with true happiness. Cole blushed a little and looked down to her feet. Catching sight of the present she remembered why she had been looking for him. "Oh uhm merry Christmas."

She handed him the gift and all he could think was, "You're the only gift I want." He thanked her instead and tucked her gift under his arm. He dug in the pocket of his jacket and took out a small box.

"Sorry I didn't wrap it. It's not my strong point," he said handing her the box.

"You didn't have to get me anything."

"It's a thank you for taking care of me while I was sick. And a sorry for all my malicious behavior," he said with a wink. Cole smiled and opened the box. Inside was a dainty silver key that hung on a delicate silver chain.

"It's beautiful Eames." She smiled and traced the edge of the box with her finger. "Did you steal it?" she asked after a moment.

"Does it matter?" He took the necklace out of the box and undid the clasp.

"No I guess not," she said with a smile. She lifted her hair up so that Eames could reach around and see what he was doing. He closed the clasp and traced the chain around her neck till his fingers hit the key. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. So now I'm wondering if you've noticed where we are standing."

"What?" Cole looked at him confused. Eames glanced up to the top frame of the door. Cole had to do a double take to see what he meant. Hanging above them was mistletoe. Cole laughed a little in disbelief.

"So now _I'm_ wondering Mr. Eames if you planed this."

"Do you think I could ever do such a thing?" he asked innocently. Cole laughed.

"You know I have never hated and then liked a man so many times in a day until I met you." She smiled as he made a face.

"Well I'm not the easiest to get on with. But it was easy for me."

"What was?"

"Falling for you." The smile slowly left Cole's face.

"Oh Eames. That was the cheesiest thing I have ever heard." He laughed and the smile returned to her face. "Do women actually fall for that line?"

"Most do yes," he admitted.

"Those poor saps." They laughed together before Eames took a step closer.

"So what do you say? Do we keep to the tradition of mistletoe?"

Cole looked up to the plant hanging above them and then back to him. "What the hell. Why not?"

"There's the Christmas spirit." They smiled at each other before hesitantly walking into each other's arms. Cole let her hands relax on his chest while he slipped one hand behind her neck, tangling his fingers into her hair, and the other hand rested on her waist. Cole stretched up on her toes a little as Eames leaned in. They were inches away when…

"Cole," called her father. Cole turned her head away before Eames could stop her. "Cole come here. You must say hello to the Franks."

"I'll be right there," she told him. She turned back to Eames with a sad look. "Father's have the best timing don't they?" She eased out of his grip and reluctantly walked away from him.

Eames remained where he was watching her. He felt a tug on his jacket and looked down to see Phillipa standing at his side. He bent down to her eyelevel with a smile.

"Hello sweetheart."

"Hi Uncle Eames," she said sweetly.

"Having a good Christmas are we?"

"Yes. I got a charm bracelet from Auntie Cole." She held up her wrist to show him.

"Oh that's lovely." He held her wrist and turned the bracelet to see what charms had been put on.

"Mmhm. I like Auntie Cole. Uncle Eames are you going to marry her?" He was taken aback by her frankness for a second before remembering how frank Mal always was.

"Where did you hear that Phillipa?"

"Auntie Ari said you guys were probably going to get married. I would like that. So would James but he won't say. Also Uncle Arthur says that if you don't hurry up and tell Cole you love her that you can take your totem and shove it."

Eames stood up and looked into the next room. Arthur was standing with Ariadne who was talking to one of the guests. Arthur caught sight of Eames and raised his glass in acknowledgment. Eames gave him the royal British middle finger. Arthur smiled before turning away.

"Where does he want you to shove your totem?" Eames looked down at the little girl. How to explain?

"Damn you Arthur," he said under his breath. "Uhm what Uncle Arthur meant was that I should shove it back in my pocket for safe keeping."

"Ooooooh. Okay," she said cheerfully before walking away.

"Everything okay?" Eames turned to see Cole.

"Yeah. Yeah it's fine. She was just telling me what she got for Christmas." Cole smiled and nodded.

"I'm going for a walk," she said after a silence. "Want to come?"

"Course." Cole smiled and led the way. Eames was happy that he would finally have a chance to be alone with her. Maybe now was the right time to say it.

As they walked the path to the gazebo the snow crunched under their feet. They walked in silence shoulder to shoulder. Eames felt Cole's hand slip around his. Yes this would be the perfect time to tell her. It was beautiful outside, they were alone, and Cole was holding on tightly to his hand. They crossed the snow covered bridge, the stream now silent and frozen over. They took a seat in the gazebo and Eames dug in his pocket. Cole watched as he pulled out mistletoe.

"How did you…I didn't even see you…"

"I'm a thief remember? I nicked it on our way out." Cole smiled. "Thought we could finish what we started."

He held it above their heads and moved closer to her. He planted the first kiss, their lips barely touching. He did this again before Cole took charge. She pulled him to her smashing their lips together. Eames tossed the plant over his shoulder and held tight to Cole. The kisses turned passionate and loving as snow began to fall and the sun began to set somewhere behind the clouds. They held onto each other desperately as if they let go the world would fall apart.

"I love you," he whispered breathless against her lips.


	26. Chapter 26

**AN: I know you all know this but I love you guys! You make me very happy with reviews and adding this story to your favorites. Now let's see if Cole can own up to her own love. **

He kissed her again before Cole broke away. "What did you say?"

"I love you. God I love you Cole." He waited with a kind smile on his face. Why was she just looking at him like that? Why wasn't she saying anything back? "Did you hear me?"

"I heard you. I…" She hesitated trying to think. "Eames…I know what you want to hear from me but I…"

His heart sank right then. Why did he listen to the others? Why hadn't he trusted his gut instinct? He had never put his feelings out on the table like that. So why had he done it now? Eames found it very hard to stand up, his heart weighing him down. Cole looked up at him helplessly.

"Eames I can't say it right now. It wouldn't be true if I said it right now. I just need some time to…" She spoke quickly. She needed to explain so she wouldn't lose him.

"It's getting colder out here. You should get back inside," was all he said as he left the gazebo. Cole stood up quickly and ran after him over the bridge.

"Eames please you have to understand!" She grabbed his arm but he tore away. "Eames I'm…Eames! Eames please!"

He kept walking away from her. Cole didn't know what to do. She wished she could say 'I love you' but she needed time. She had only just realized that she liked and cared for him. It wouldn't be right if she said it to him now. All she needed was time, he'd see.

Cole made her way back to the house alone and not in the Christmas mood any longer. She didn't want to go back to the party. She would rather go to her room and just be alone or maybe find Eames there waiting for her. As soon as she entered the house a hand clamped down on her shoulder.

"Saito," she said putting on some kind of a smile.

"Merry Christmas my dear." He hugged her tightly. "Are you alright Nicole?" He had noticed her uneasiness and the gleam of sadness in her eyes.

"I'm fine. I just miss my mother and Marty around this time of year." It was only a half fib. She did miss them but this sadness and hurt in her heart was because she might have lost the affection of a certain forger.

"Well you stay close to me tonight." Saito smiled at his "daughter" and hugged her to his side. While having to endure the rest of the party, Cole kept an eye out for Eames but never saw him. Eames reentered the house when most of the guests were leaving and Cole had already retired for the night.

"Eames," called Ariadne upon seeing him walk by. "Eames did you tell her?"

"Yes," he said shortly.

"And?" asked Yusuf.

"Tell us what happened," encouraged Arthur.

"She didn't sat it back," he replied trying not to choke on the words.

Later when Eames entered her room Cole was asleep. A book lay open in her hand and her bedside light still on. He closed the door quietly. He lifted his suitcase onto his bed and began to gather his things. Cole stirred a little while he moved around the room. She woke just as he was finishing up.

"What are you doing?" she asked sitting up in bed.

"I got a call. One of my other jobs requires my immediate attention," he said after a moment.

"But what about…you are coming back right?"

"Yes I will be coming back." He zipped up his suitcase just as one of the servants came to tell him the taxi was here. "Go back to sleep Cole," he said before closing the door.

Cole flung the covers off her, the book falling to the floor. She ran down her winding staircase, down the hall, and then halfway down the main staircase. Eames had just handed his bag to the taxi driver and gave his destination when she arrived.

"So when are you going to be back?" Eames turned to look at her but didn't move from the door. "Well? How long are you going to be gone?"

"Go back to your room Cole. It's late," he said simply. The front door closed behind him and the sound of the taxi driving away drifted through the door.

The very next day Cobb, Ariadne, and Yusuf were off on other jobs. Arthur was the only one able to do his job from where he was. He would sit with Cole in the study, look up the information he needed, and mail it to his other employers. After a couple of days without a word from Eames Cole started to go crazy.

"He must have told you something," she said to Arthur while they were sitting in the study.

"What would Eames tell me?"

"I don't know," she said frustrated. She got up and began to pace. "Like how long he would be gone? When he's coming back? Where he is?"

"He didn't tell me anything Cole. I can tell you when the others would be back but I have nothing on Eames."

Cole flopped down in an armchair with a huff. Arthur laughed. "What?"

"Nothing. You're just starting to sound like a clingy girlfriend."

"Oh shut up Arthur," she said glaring at him.

A week went by and the others began to return. Yusuf came back first, Cobb was next, and then Ariadne. Cole was happy that the others had come back and had been successful but was growing impatient. Another week came and went with still no word. Cole began to get worried. Cobb told her nothing was wrong and that Eames would be back soon. But she still couldn't help it.

"It seems like you _are_ in love with him," Ariadne said. The two girls sat together in Cole's room catching up on things.

"Why would you say that?" Ariadne laughed.

"Well maybe because you've been chewing on your nails for the past week. You also haven't been sleeping."

"Oh God Ariadne! I am a mess." Cole tucked her knees up to her chest. "I can't sleep when he's here and I can't sleep when he's not here. I'm constantly worried. I keep having dreams about that night and how I wish I could change it."

"Why didn't you tell him you loved him?"

"Cause I didn't feel it at the time."

"But you feel it now?" Cole sighed. She still felt a little unsure if she would be able to say those three words to Eames.

"I don't know. I mean…how did you know? With Arthur?"

"Well he is the one who made the first move actually."

"Arthur?" Ariadne laughed at Cole's shock.

"Surprising I know. But I think I knew before then." Cole sighed and twirled the key around her neck between her fingers. She had come to think of this little key as the one and only key to her forger's heart.

"I'm nervous," she confessed. "What if I tell him and he doesn't love me anymore?"

Ariadne pulled Cole into a sisterly hug. "I'm sure he still loves you Cole."


	27. Chapter 27

At the end of the third longest week of Cole's life Eames came back. They were all in the family room watching TV when Cole heard the front door open and close. Voices drifted down the hall from the foyer. Cole walked out into the foyer to see what was going on.

"Bess was someone at the door?" she asked the servant who was now locking the door.

"Oh yes miss. Mr. Eames has returned. He went up to the room." Cole smiled and sprinted up the stairs. She slowed down once she reached her winding staircase. Standing in front of her door, Cole fixed herself and made sure she looked okay before going in. She opened the door and found Eames unpacking.

"You're home," she said closing the door behind her.

"I told you I was coming back." Cole watched as he moved around the room, setting things back to how they were.

"How was the job?"

"Fine." Eames put his now empty suitcase back in its place.

"Get into any trouble?"

"Nothing that I couldn't handle," he said turning to her with a little smile. The smile looked painful. His lips looked torn up and the black eye made the expression look forced.

"Obviously," she said with her own little smile. She walked closer so she could see the damage. Eames held still while she gently turned his face so she could see in the light. Carefully she ran her fingers over his cracked lips and his bruised eye. Eames tried not to sigh at how good her cool fingers felt on his wounds.

"Does it hurt?" she asked quietly. He shook his head. "You have some dried blood under your nose. Hold on one sec."

Eames rubbed under his nose. He could feel crusted blood. He was about to wipe it off himself when Cole stopped him.

"Here don't use your hand," she said with a little laugh. She handed him a wet tissue. Once he was done she threw out the tissue. When she came back from the bathroom Eames was trying to carefully shrug out of his jacket. He winced as he tried to lift his arm.

Cole helped him out of his jacket and put it down on her bed. She came back to him and untucked his shirt. Eames cleared his throat and held her hands in his to stop them from doing anything else.

"I can handle this Cole."

"Can you? Eames you can barely lift your arm. Stop being a tough guy and let me help you." He smirked and let go of her hands.

"I see you haven't lost your sassy touch."

"Never," she said with a smile. Cole unbuttoned his shirt and removed it carefully. More dried blood made the fabric stick to his skin. Bruises came into view as the shirt came off. Cole winced at the site. She tossed the shirt to the side and took Eames's hand. She dragged him into the bathroom where she got a wash cloth and dampened it.

"Is this more of your motherly instinct?" he asked as she dabbed at his wounds.

"Yes I guess it is." She paused in cleaning the blood and ran her fingers over some of his bruises. Eames arched his back a little and leaned into her touch. Cole then pressed her lips lightly to a bruise on his upper shoulder. "I missed you."

Eames turned to face her. He cupped her face and tilted it up so he could kiss her. Cole's heart jumped in her chest. He still loved her and the proof was in his touch and his kiss. She broke the kiss for a moment to set the wash cloth in the sink. Eames lifted her up onto the counter and brought her right back into the kiss. Cole wrapped her legs around his waist to bring him closer and strengthen the kiss.

The next morning, very early in the morning, Cole forced Eames to come and sit with her in the garden. They sat together on a long patio bench wrapped up in blankets. Eames grabbed some coffee from the kitchen and came running back down to the garden with two cups.

"Bloody freaking hell its freezing. Why did I let you convince me to come out here this early?" he asked sitting back down by Cole. They snuggled together and brought the blankets tighter around themselves. Eames pressed a cold hand to her bare skin under her shirt. She squealed in discomfort and moved his hand away. Eames laughed.

"You let me drag you out here because its perfect, beautiful, and romantic."

"Oh yes that's right."

It really was perfect. The snow glittered in the sunlight, birds sang, and it was like they were the only two around. As Cole sat in that picturesque scene pressed against him, her heart began to pound in her chest. She was sure Eames could hear her heart throwing a fit.

"I love you," she said after a moment.

Eames shifted so he could see her. He looked to her unsure if he had heard the words or not. "Is that the 'I love you' I've heard a hundred times in my head but never from you?"

"Yes." She looked up at him shyly.

Eames smiled and laughed. "Oh Cole." He put a hand to her cheek lovingly. "Say it again please," he said with desire.

"I love you," she said strongly.

**AN: Happy 2011! Hope it is a good year and what a way to start it off. Cole finally said it! YAY! ^_^ **

**Eames's last line is inspired by Mansfield Park. I loved the reaction Henry had to Fanny Price saying she would marry him. I thought it was a sweet kind of way for Eames to react and it portrays the fact that he has imagined her saying it to him and now gets to hear it. **


	28. Chapter 28

Cole smiled as Eames twitched in his sleep. She liked having the chance to study him as he had studied her. She began to trace the tattoo on his upper right arm. It had fascinated her since day one. Her fingers ran along each curve and twist of the ink.

"What are you doing?" he asked with eyes still closed.

"Nothing," she said, her fingers still tracing.

"It doesn't feel like nothing." He opened his eyes and took in her smiling face. He placed a hand on her cheek, interrupting her pattern. "Say it again."

"No." She moved his hand so that she could kiss his palm.

"C'mon Cole. Say it again," he said wrapping her up in his arms.

"I love you Eames," she said after a moment.

"You had better," was his response. Cole tried to tug out of his arms to hit him with a pillow. Eames held her tight to prevent it. "I swear woman. You and your fascination with pillows." Cole laughed and snuggled close to him.

"You know one of these days you are going to get tired of hearing me say I love you," she said resting her head on his chest. His steady heartbeat filled her mind.

"I will never get tired of hearing you say it." Eames ran his fingers through her hair. He wished they could stay like that but knew work was waiting for them. They grudgingly got out of bed and got ready for the day. They entered the study smiling, their arms wrapped around each other.

"About freaking time," Yusuf said.

"What have you been counting down until Eames and I got together Yusuf?"

"We all have actually," answered Arthur.

"All of you are weird," Eames replied. They laughed before Cobb got serious again.

"Alright let's get to work shall we? Glad to see you two are playing nice." He patted Eames on the shoulder as he passed. While the others began to set themselves up for the PASIV Eames pulled Cole into his arms. The kiss was chaste but full. Cole loved how it still felt like their first kiss. They released each other, a smile on both their lips, and went to get ready.

Yusuf bent down by Cole as she slid the needle into her wrist. "I'm afraid the last DNA sample you gave me didn't work."

"What happened?"

"Well let's just say I had a few more nose hairs than I should this morning."

"Gross."

"It's been taken care of…I think." He shook his head as if to get back on track. "I think the next step is blood."

"How much," she asked cautiously.

She watched as Yusuf calculated in his head. "About a bag should do. Don't worry Cole," he said after seeing her reaction. "It's just in case one of the experiments doesn't work. I don't want to keep bothering you for blood."

"Okay," she answered slowly. "After everything is done with today I'll give you blood."

"Great," he said a little too excitedly.

"An extravagant setting isn't what we need right now Cole," Cobb said once they had all found each other in her subconscious. Cole shrugged.

"It's my subconscious. What am I supposed to do?"

They were standing on the moon of Endor. Fuzzy adorable ewoks ran around them dancing and singing. Cobb was dressed as Luke, Ariadne made a fine C3PO, and Arthur fumed at her side as R2D2. That left Eames as Solo and Cole as Leia.

"You know how to control it and create," Cobb said as an ewok tugged on his hand.

"What am I to create?"

"We need a city. Something with winding roads or open space."

Cole closed her eyes and thought. Soon the sounds of ewoks and music faded. Those sounds were replaced by sounds of a busy city and crowds. She opened her eyes and smile at her skill.

"Very good," Cobb said impressed.

"What do we need this for?"

"Remember the lessons I gave you on defensive driving?" Eames asked coming to her side. She nodded. "Well you never know what situation you'll get into. So now we need to test out your driving skills in this world."

Eames and Cole partnered up in one car while the other three found their own. They started out in one area of the city, a flat long piece of road, and began their race.

**AN: Sorry about lack of update. I got a little stuck but I have got my groove back now. So here you go! Thank God Chris Nolan came up with this movie!**


	29. Chapter 29

Eames sat in the passenger seat watching as Cole maneuvered the sports car. They had gone from flat long roads to curving snake like roads in the hills. He gave her a few instructions when one of the others would get ahead of her but otherwise she was doing fine. She had remembered perfectly everything he had taught her.

"Why didn't you want to race?" she asked glancing over at him quickly.

"Just in case something goes wrong I can take care of it."

"Mmhm sure. I bet you're just nervous I'd beat you." Eames looked over at her with eyebrows raised.

"I'm sorry you think you could beat me in a race?"

"I _know _I could baby," she said with a smirk. God he loved this woman. She looked so perfect right now. Confidence in her smooth voice, that smirk, the wind whipping her hair everywhere. What more could he want?

A car horn honked, interrupting his thoughts. They both looked to see Arthur pulling ahead. The point man waved as he maneuvered in front of her car.

"Damnit Arthur," she called over the wind rushing around them. He smiled and honked again as he sped up.

"Oh don't let that sick in the mud win," Eames protested.

Cole glanced over to the right. "I have an idea," she said with a wicked smile. She turned the wheel harshly to the right. They went crashing into the safety rail and broke through. Eames gripped his seat and held on for dear life. Cole cheered and laughed as the car began to hurdle down the hill. Before they landed in a fiery mess a road began to lift out of the ground and met the car.

They landed harshly but safely. The car jerked as Cole pushed on the gas. The road they had landed on began to rise more and more. Up ahead Eames saw it connect to the original route and Cole pushed the gas pedal to the floor of the car. Arthur was nearing the point where her road met with the original. Cole was only a couple of inches ahead of him and cut right back onto the original road. Arthur swerved a little but got his car back in control. Cole honked and waved to him as she pulled again.

Eames looked back to see Arthur's sour face. He laughed and cheered as he sat back down.

"God I love you, you crazy woman," he said leaning over to kiss her temple. Cole smiled and pushed the car over the finish line. The finish line led them into a small little town filled with cafés and shops. They all pulled in front of a shop and got out. They congratulated each other on a good race before deciding to go to one of the cafes.

As they began to walk Cole suddenly felt weighed down. It felt like something was pressing on her head. She stopped laughing and slowed behind the rest of them. Something was different and it was not a good change.

"Cole are you okay?" Ariadne asked coming back to her. Cole just looked at her friend, worry filling Ariadne's eyes.

"Cole what's the matter?" Cobb asked putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Something's not right."

"What do you mean?" asked Arthur. "Is something off balance?"

Cole shook her head. That wasn't it. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to feel around her subconscious. She could feel her projections walking around, the architecture was fine, and she could feel each one of their minds within hers. So what was it? She searched a little deeper until…ah there it was!

"Someone else is in here." Her eyes opened wide with shock. "Another mind."

"Is it Yusuf? Maybe he…"

"No, no ,no. It's not him. It's someone else. Someone I don't know."

Instantly all of them dug out their guns. "Eames this would be a good time for you to…" Cobb began. He stopped when he turned and didn't see Eames. Now instead of one Cole there were two.

"Already taken care of," said one of them.

"Good. Now we need to find the threat." They all began to scan through the projections looking for anything abnormal.

"Wait," one of the Coles said after a moment. "If someone else is in here does that mean there has been a security breach?"

"Possibly. Saito was worried about that."

"That's great. You know no need to tell me or anything," she said sarcastically.

"But I thought Arthur did background checks," Ariadne said looking between Cobb and Arthur.

"I did. Everyone was clean."

"This isn't going to be like in the Fischer job is it? Where something didn't show in the research?" Cobb asked. Arthur blushed a little. Of course he would have to bring that up.

"_The Fischer job?_" one of the Coles said looking at all of them now. "What did you do to Robbie?"

"That's not important right now," Cobb said mentally cursing himself for saying anything. "Alright look we need to figure things out…"

"There," Cole said. She was staring at a café across the street. At one of the tables sat two men she had never seen before. She knew they were the intruders. Suddenly every projection stopped what they were doing and turned towards the two men.

"Alright Ariadne take Cole and hide. If worse comes to worse wake her up. Arthur take Eames and go in a different direction. We'll throw them off."

Ariadne took hold of Cole's wrist and all the projections turned to where they were. They began to head towards them.

"No you idiots," Cole scolded. "Go after the other two! Create a wall!" The projections did just that. They turned back just as the two men stood from their table and began heading towards them. The projections linked arms and created a wall between the men and them.

"C'mon Cole." Ariadne began to drag Cole in one direction while Arthur took Eames in the other direction. Cobb was left with the wall of projections and the intruders. Cole and Ariadne got a good distance away before they ducked into a shop and hid in an aisle.

"What now?"

"We wait until we get word from Cobb that it's safe." Ariadne looked at Cole with curiosity.

"What?"

"You controlled your projections. You told them what to do and they did it. That's amazing."

"It's not normal though right? And being able to feel stuff after the dream? That's not normal either is it?" Ariadne shook her head. "God what am I? Some kind of mutant or something?"

"You just have a very special case of imagination."

"What joy and rapture is mine," Cole said rolling her eyes. Just then they heard gunshots. Cole looked to Ariadne.

"Not a good sign. C'mon."

They walked out of the shop carefully. They looked down one end of empty street. Safe. They turned to look down the other end and saw a man standing there. He began to walk towards them and then began to run. Cole and Ariadne ran in the other direction trying to find a safe place.

"We could really use an escape route Cole," said a panicked Ariadne as they reached a dead end. They both looked back to see the man getting closer. Cole focused and a door appeared in front of them.

"C'mon!" Cole tugged Ariadne through the door. They fell to the floor as the door shut and disappeared. Ariadne stood and looked at where they had ended up. A sign read: _Pirates of the Caribbean._

"Disneyland Cole?" Cole shrugged as she stood.

"I'm feeling a little depressed. Excuse me for wanting to be in the happiest place on earth."

Suddenly the door reappeared and began to open. The man on the other side had wedged it back open and was trying to get through. The two girls ran into the ride and jumped into the water completely forgetting about creating boats. They made their way quickly down into the depths of the ride and hid among the animatronics. The man followed them but lost sight. He took out his gun and looked around.

"C'mon now Miss Hareton," he said trying to bait her. "We just want to have a little talk with you. We're not going to hurt you."

Ariadne and Cole tried to quiet their breathing. He waded through the water searching. He got close a couple of times but didn't see them.

"We just want to have a nice little chat about daddy dearest. Come on out sweetheart."

"What do we do?" Cole mouthed. Ariadne cocked her gun as quietly as possible. The man heard the click and caught sight of movement.

"I'm sorry," Ariadne mouthed back. Cole squeezed her eyes shut as Ariadne pressed the gun to her forehead.

Cole woke and saw a woman standing over an unconscious Yusuf. She had a gun pointed at him with her back to Cole. Cole got up quietly and walked over to the woman. She tapped the woman on the shoulder and punched her square in the face. The gun went flying from her hands as she hit the floor. Cole was about to look for the gun when one of the men began to wake. It was the one who had followed her and Ariadne.

He caught glimpse of her and began to rip the needle out of his wrist. Eames's words rang through her mind like a bell_. You get to that exit and you run, don't look back no matter what is going on. _She turned and bolted for the study door.

"Nicole!" The man was angry and God only knew what he was capable of. Cole pulled the door open and ran into the foyer. She tripped over her own feet and fell hard on the floor. She lay there for a moment trying to make herself sit up. Heavy footsteps came up behind her and Cole scrambled to get up.

The man grabbed her by the hair and lifted her up. Cole winced as he pulled her hair. She struggled even though it was very painful. He wrapped his arms around her as he tried to get her back to the study. Where the hell was all the security her father had paid for? God didn't they know something was wrong?

"Help! Help me! Someone help!" Her voice cracked as she desperately tried to get anyone's attention.

"Shut up!" He put his hand over her mouth to muffled her cries. Cole bit down hard making the man yelp. He threw her to the floor, her head spinning with pain. The man grabbed her ankle and began to drag her. As they got a little closer to the study she could hear sounds of a scuffle going on. Once again Eames's words flashed into her mind. She had to get away.

Without another thought Cole kicked the man's kneecap. He howled in pain and fell to the floor. Cole wiggled out of his grip and began to head for an exit. She had the front door in her sights and was almost there when a hand grabbed her ankle. She fell, her hand just shy of the door handle. She turned to see the man once again.

"God why won't you stay down?" Cole pushed her way closer to the door and reached for the handle. Her fingers grazed it making the handle turn a little. She kicked at the man until his hand slipped from her ankle. She flung open the door and took off as fast as she could into the brisk air of the day. She was half way down the drive when she heard footsteps coming after her.

"I just have to get to the gate," she told herself. She was almost there when hands caught her. She struggled as they tried to turn her around.

"Cole! Cole its okay! It's me!" She stopped struggling when she heard his voice. Eames stood there in front of her, a sight of relief. Cole ran into his arms. "I've got you. It's okay."

"I did what you said," she mumbled into his shoulder. "I just ran."

"I know. You did good." He sighed and held her close.


	30. Chapter 30

"IDIOT!" The sound of his voice echoed off the walls. No one dared to move. All eyes were glued to Jacob standing alone before Vlad. Jacob came back a few days ago beaten with a cast around one of his kneecaps. He was the only one to return.

"What did I tell you?" Vlad was pacing, never a good sign. "You're actions had holes! They were stupid and not thought out! And now because of you we have lost two team members. Jeff is regrettably dead. Amanda and your "inside friend" have been arrested. Do you see now how incompetent you are?"

Jacob stood stock still. He had never meant for Amanda or Maggie to get arrested. He had never meant for the rookie Jeff to get killed. He thought that when the security began to get wise they would get themselves out of the house like he had. Jacob glanced up and caught the eyes of Quin and Zek. He looked away quickly feeling ashamed and embarrassed. Those emotions soon turned to anger. If they had come along he would have had more men and the plan could have gone smoothly.

Or Vlad could have accepted his plan of action and gone for it. Instead now they would have to wait for Lord knows how long until Cobb and his team moved out.

**AN: Short? Yes. Do any of you care about what an idiot Jacob is? No because all of you are here for some Eames/Cole action. I got you, I got you. ;) **

**No worries I have some good stuff coming up!  
**


	31. Chapter 31

Security had finally taken notice that something was wrong. They came barging in guns at the ready, dogs barking, voices yelling. During all the chaos one of the intruders, the youngest, rushed a police woman and was shot in the process. The other intruder, the woman, was arrested after blabbing to the cops how they had gotten in. Officer Maggie Sparrow was also arrested and taken away. Eames had brought Cole back to the house, keeping her by his side at all times.

"There was another," she told one of the cops. "Another man. I left him in the foyer. I broke one of his kneecaps."

"Don't worry miss we will find him. He can't get too far with a broken knee." Wrong. He could and he had. Cole couldn't help but worry. What if he was hiding in the house somewhere? What if he came after her again and no one could stop him? She clung to Eames like a child at the thought of this. Eames noticed her tangling her fingers into his shirt. He took her over to the side while the cops finished talking to the others.

"Are you okay?" he asked trying to catch her eyes.

"I'm fine," she said looking around the room. He pushed her face back to him. She could see the worry clear in his eyes. "I'm a little scared," she confessed.

"You know that nothing is going to happen to you while I'm around right?" She nodded but he wasn't convinced. "If that guy ever gets within an inch of you, you know that I will dismember him. And then I'll spread him all over the world so no one will ever find him."

"That's gross," she said with a little amusement coming into her eyes. "And very sweet at the same time."

Eames smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He in turn enclosed her in his arms and hugged her gently. Cole's feet lifted off the ground a little as Eames held onto her. She kissed his cheek before she said his favorite words.

"I love you so much."

"I love you too."

A frantic voice reach their ears. Eames released Cole as Saito walked into the room. He talked to the cops to get the story before gathering all of them together. The security left the room and began their search for the man that had gotten away.

"Nicole are you alright?" was the first thing he said. She nodded. "What the hell happened?" This was directed at Arthur.

"I did a check and everyone came up clean. I don't know what happened. Someone knew how to cover up her tracks and contacts."

"This is just like the Fischer job. But instead of the dangers of limbo there is the danger of being put six feet under!"

"Would people stop bringing up the Fischer job?" Arthur's cheeks were starting to turn red with frustration. Ariadne linked her arm with his and rested a hand on his arm to calm him. "I said I was sorry you were sent to limbo. Cobb found you if you recall and it was a while ago!"

"What is the Fischer job?" Cole asked. They all went quiet and looked to her. "Did you do something to Robbie?"

"That's not important right now," Arthur and Saito said in unison. Cole rolled her eyes. She was never going to get a straight answer when it came to the Fischer job.

"Anyway," Saito said after clearing his throat. "Are you sure you are okay Nicole? Did he hurt you? Are you physically hurt? Emotionally hurt? I will pay for any help you need my dear."

"Saito really I'm okay. Just a little shaken that's all."

"Alright. I just don't want anything to happen to you." He kissed her forehead.

"I know. Could you do something for me? Could you call my father and tell him what happened and that I'm okay? I can only handle so many people gushing over me and I know he will go crazy."

"Of course. I'm also going to talk to security and see about doubling it. I want some of my own men over here." Saito walked out of the study pulling a cell phone out of his inner jacket pocket.

"Okay I think everyone has deserved the next couple of days off," Cobb said after a moment. Everyone agreed and gathered around the TV in the family room. They all sat together on the long L shaped couch and relaxed into the soft cushions. Eventually Ariadne had convinced Arthur to play a game on the Xbox that sat under the TV. Cobb watched very amused as Ariadne beat Arthur in practically every game.

Cole leaned heavily against Eames as the sensation of sleep began to take hold. She fit comfortably against his side. It was like they were puzzle pieces that had always been meant for each other. One of her arms was draped across his stomach while the other was tucked underneath her. Eames had one arm around her shoulders while his free hand rested on the arm draped across him.

"I'm so lucky I have you," she said quietly. His heart swelled with love.

"Is that right?" he asked looking down at her. She nodded and snuggled closer to him. "And God knows that I am very lucky to have you as well."

"Imagine that none of this happened," she said as he tucked her hair behind her ear. He repeated this gesture creating a soothing rhythm. "Suppose I never ever met you. Suppose we never fell in love. Suppose I never ever let you kiss me so sweet and so soft."

"Well luckily all that did happen." He gave her a quick smile before leaning down. Cole stretched up as much as she could to meet him half way.

After a few hours playing with Ariadne, Arthur decided he was tired of losing. He coaxed Cobb into taking his place. The extractor and the point man switched places and Ariadne was happy to have a new opponent. Eames and Arthur watched while the other two played. Arthur looked over to see Cole passed out against the forger.

"How is she?" he said quietly.

Eames glanced down at her, still pushing the hair behind her ear. "She's alright. Cole is a tough girl."

"How are _you_?" Eames sighed. "Are you alright Eames?"

"It was hard for me…hearing her screaming like that for help. I couldn't get to her. I knew I wouldn't get there in time. It felt like a steak going through my heart."

Arthur nodded. "It was a tough day for us all. Good thing she remembered what you taught her."

Eames looked distant. He was still listening but he wasn't fully there. Arthur suspected he was replaying the sound of Cole's cry for help.

"I hate that sound," he said after a moment. That confirmed Arthur's suspicion. "I hate the feeling of not being able to get to her, to help her, save her. How would you deal with it if it were Ariadne?"

"I've had to deal with it before," he said looking at his lovely architect, who was now doing a victory dance. "Remember the job we did a couple months ago?"

"The Percy job?" Arthur nodded.

"The mark's projections just went crazy on us remember?" It was all coming back to Eames now. "One of them went after Ariadne and began choking her. I saw it happening, heard her gasping for me, and I couldn't get to her in time. I know it was in the dream state but she was freaked out for weeks."

"How did you handle it?"

"I just told myself over and over that it would never happen again." Arthur looked back to Eames. "I know that's not very helpful but it got me through." Arthur stood and was about to join the others when he remembered something. "It might also help to take out some rage in one way or another."

Eames smiled as he remembered Arthur going ballistic on projections the next time they did a job. Taking out his rage seemed like a good idea, Lord knows he had plenty of it right now. He looked down to the sleeping Cole and felt the anger ebb. She was so peaceful and sweet when she was asleep. Every trace of her sassy attitude hidden away. However this peacefulness did not last long.

That night Cole struggled in her sleep. She thrashed and mumbled at an invisible attacker before bolting up in bed with a loud gasp. Eames woke instantly and tried to calm her. He held her close telling her it was only a dream, nothing was trying to hurt her, he was right there, nothing was wrong. He crooned these words over and over in her ear as she lay back down in bed and tried to sleep. The nightmares continued through the week. Eames became more aware of her sleep patterns and every move she made in her sleep.

Cole began to mumble in her sleep again. Eames woke at the faint sound. Her face was screwed up in panic. She began to toss as the dream progressed. Eames made her settle on her side so she faced him. He kissed her forehead lightly, letting his lips linger on her skin. She stopped mumbling and tossing. Her eyes opened feeling heavy.

"Another nightmare?" he asked running his fingers through her hair. She nodded.

"God you must hate me. You probably haven't gotten any sleep this past week. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I'm getting all the sleep I need love. I promise. And I could never hate you Cole. Even when I called you a heartless bitch I didn't hate you." He was relieved to see her laugh a little.

"I hate these dreams. Why can't I have dreams about you again?" He smiled and pressed another kiss to her head.

"Close your eyes," he said sweetly. "Think about kissing in the snow and having a snowball fight together. Think about beating me in a fighting session or beating me in a car race. Think about how much I love you."

Cole drifted back to sleep easily. With his heartbeat in one ear, his loving words in the other, and the rhythm of his fingers going over her scalp helped. She went back to sleep and had pleasant dreams about all the things he had mentioned.

**AN: Cole's sweet words to Eames are from Regina Spektor's song Fidelity. I like that one line in the song a lot and I like how it came out. It shows that Cole knows how lucky she is. **


	32. Chapter 32

She climbed onto the couch bed and crossed her legs Indian style. Eames lay stretched out on his bed making notes about another job. Cole sat there for a moment silent. She wasn't sure how to say what she wanted to. Should she just spit it out? Or maybe dance around it for a little? Or maybe she could beat the answer out of him.

She felt her heart beat nervously and her stomach go into knots. She hadn't had that feeling since she was a child asking her mother to come to her room after a nightmare.

"Hey babe," she said after an undecided moment.

"Hmm?" He didn't look away from the notes he was scribbling.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You just did," he answered with a smirk. When she didn't reply he looked up. He set down his papers and pen. Eames sat up a little straighter and placed a hand on her knee. "Ask away poppet."

"What's the Fischer job?" She could feel him tense. "What did you guys do to Robbie?"

Eames thought carefully about this. Would Cobb have his head on a silver platter if he told her? "We may or may not have performed inception on Robert."

"You what? What do you mean may or may not have? Which is it Eames?"

He closed his eyes for a second. "We planted an idea in his head. The idea was to split his father's company. This way Saito could be sure that he wouldn't have to compete with Fischer."

"This was Saito's idea?" Eames cursed himself. He shouldn't have said anything. "So you all just walked right into his mind and started messing with things? You're the reason why Robbie split his father's empire?"

"Hey don't take out your rage on just me sweetheart. All of us as a team did it and your precious Robbie came away from it a better man. Infact his company is thriving more now. So is Saito and your father's company. It turned out to be a win win for everyone."

"Yeah luckily it turned out that way. What if it hadn't? What if it had ruined Robbie? Or what if you guys caused mental damage? What then?" Eames sat quiet. "Answer me."

He shrugged. "Honestly I wouldn't really care that much. That man has every luxury in the world. I'm sure he would still be fine if the outcome had been different."

Cole sat there and thought this over. She removed his hand from her knee and climbed off the bed. He watched as she headed for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I have a bone to pick with a few people." With that she closed the door behind her leaving Eames and his work.

"Crap. Stupid, stupid, stupid," he cursed himself getting up from the bed. He should probably go after her and be present when the "bone picking" went down. He caught the sound of her voice coming from the library. He stood in the doorway for a moment to take in what he had missed.

"…your ex-wife did what?" Cobb and Cole were toe to toe. The other three stood behind Cobb, letting their fearless leader deal with the rage filled girl.

"She shot him and he was sent to limbo. Ariadne got him out and in the end he understood that his father wasn't disappointed in him. He was disappointed that Robert _tried to be_ him. It made him a better person Cole."

Cole opened her mouth to argue but closed it quickly. There was nothing to argue about with them. If she should be angry at anyone, it should be Saito. Cole fell into an armchair close by and fiddled with the key around her neck. Cobb kneeled by her and took one of her hands in his.

"I know you must feel hurt and betrayed…but please understand."

Cole looked into Cobb's clear blue eyes. There was no lie in them. She knew Cobb cared and that neither he nor the others would hurt her. She gave him a small smile and then turned it on the others. The room relaxed and calmed. Cole stood quietly and left the library, Eames letting her pass. He followed her down the hall to the main stairs.

"Are you angry with the others?" She shook her head. "Are you angry with me?" She stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to face him.

"I can't be angry with you, any of you. You didn't know me and you didn't know I was friends with Robbie. And I guess the idea was a well deserved F you to his old man. The only one I can be angry with is Saito. He knew I was close to Robbie. I have to talk to him."

Eames watched as Cole began to bite her lower lip again. He cupped her face and smiled. "If you keep chewing your lips there will be nothing left for me to kiss."

She released her lip and waited for him to kiss her. He leaned down and made as if he were going to kiss her teeth marked lips. Instead he planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Tease," she said pushing at his chest playfully. Eames smiled. As she turned to go down the stairs he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her against his chest. He kissed her cheek down to her neck. Cole felt her mouth slide into an easy smile and let her eyes close. She was perfectly content until she remembered what she was going to do.

"I can't be angry at Saito with you doing that," she said trying to move away.

"Good. You're no fun when you're angry," he responded between kisses.

"I thought you liked my passion and sassiness." She tilted in his arms so they could see each other.

"I suppose I do." They smiled at each other, Eames tightening his hold on her. Cole leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Damnit I'm not angry anymore," she said pouting a little. Eames chuckled.

"Well then poor Saito will just have to wait to be chewed out." He kissed her cheek again this time making a smacking sound. Cole's face scrunched up but a smile remained on her lips.

**AN: I swear JGL and Tom Hardy are having a battle in my head. I saw a movie with JGL in it and I got all gushy over him but then I'm writing this and I think about Tom Hardy….ugh! Why do they both have to be so amazing? **


	33. Chapter 33

Later that day when all the work was done, Cole stayed behind in the study working on mazes. Her headphones were in pumping music from her playlist. She was hunched over the desk trying to figure out just how to get to the end. The sharp sound of the timer sounded making Cole jump a little.

"Shit," she said sitting back in her chair. Ariadne's mazes were getting harder. Cole found it difficult to solve them in two minutes. She rubbed her neck and sighed. Suddenly arms came around her making her jump again. Eames came around with a smile.

"You ass," she said taking out her headphones. He laughed.

"Yes but I am a perfect ass."

"You certainly have one," she said. She looked down at the mazes with a smile.

"Oh you cheeky little girl," he said with a smile himself. Her smile grew. "So my dear what are you doing cooped up inside?"

"Working on mazes. Ari has made them much harder."

"I see." He picked up one of the mazes and looked it over. "Well the work day is over. So I gather there is no need to work on them anymore today. Come outside with me."

"No I need to do these. I'm behind." She rubbed her neck again feeling the sore muscles. She really needed to find a better way to work.

"You have been working hard and deserve a break. C'mon Cole. Come outside with me."

He pulled her up from her chair. Cole protested as he playfully dragged her to the backyard. Once out on the lawn Eames laid his jacket out on the grass for them to lie on. They then began to talk about everything and anything. At one point Eames made Cole get a photo album clamming that he wanted to see a "mini version" of her. She brought it back outside and opened up her life to him.

They looked at pictures of her and Marty as babies, pictures of their old house, family, friends, and various vacations. As pages flipped birthdays passed and everyone changed before their eyes. Cole explained the pictures to him and what was going on at that time during her life. They stopped at a specific picture her mother had taken months before she passed away. It was a black and white photo of Cole on a swing set. She was in the process of going higher towards the sky. Her mother had gotten a clear shot of her laughing and the sun coming through the canopy of trees creating artistic shadows.

"My mother's best hobby was photography," Cole said fondly. "I loved being a model for her pictures. Getting to dress up and goof around with her. It was the best."

"Oh while we are on the subject of photography," Eames said digging in his pocket. He pulled out a colorfully wrapped object. "For you."

Cole took the object and smiled. "You wrapped it."

"I tried," he said with a shrug. He had tried…kind of. There was too much tape on it and untrimmed corners of paper. He did say wrapping wasn't a strong point. Cole unwrapped the object to have a digital camera fall into her hands.

"Aww Eames." He smiled proudly. Cole turned on the camera to see six different pictures of Eames already saved on the memory card. "Eames."

"Just wanted to test it for you. Make sure it was working."

"I think you're a camera whore." He shrugged.

"Why not when you look like this?" This made Cole laugh to the point she couldn't breathe. Eames smiled at the sight. It had been too long since she had laughed like that.

"Thank you. I love it," she said after she calmed.

"This has to be my favorite picture of you," he said looking back at the album. "You look so genuinely happy."

"I'm genuinely happy right now." Eames leaned over and kissed her. Cole stretched her arm above them and snapped a picture. He smiled into the kiss.

"NICOLE!" The voice drifted through the wind towards them. Cole looked back to see a servant standing on the patio. "Your father needs to see you miss!"

Cole groaned. "For the love of God!"

"We need a vacation. Just you and me. No fathers, no team, no servants."

"That sounds great."

"Let's do it then." Cole laughed. A look of eagerness flashed into his eyes.

"Where will we go?"

"Ever been to Venice?"

"No but I've always wanted to."

"That's where we are going then." Cole's heart leapt. Was he serious?

"Really? Venice? We're going to Venice?" she asked excitedly. Eames nodded. She hugged him with a big grim on her features.

"NICOLE! MISS!" Cole waved a hand to signal she was coming. She told Eames she would be right back so they could talk about their plans. He would wait patiently for her right where he was. Cole rushed up to the house, excitement running through her. The thought of being alone with Eames in Venice was driving her mad. She couldn't wait to get away from all these people and this house. She needed a change and she needed him by her side.

**AN: Chapter 33…oh boy we are getting old here. Still liking it? I hope so ^_^ Got some interesting and good stuff coming up for y'all! Thank you for all the comments and everything. Love all of you! **


	34. Chapter 34

"What did your father want?" he asked as she sat down by him.

"We have been cordially invited to his Polo match on Sunday." Eames made a face. "We're going."

"Do we have to? I mean watching a bunch of old rich men play Polo? I can see that on the TV." Cole laughed.

"He told me to bring you. He is finally warming up to you Eamsey boy."

"Well then we should leave for Venice tomorrow. That way we will be back in time for the glorious Polo match."

The next morning the both of them were on a plane to Italy. The two of them arrived early in the morning and began to make their way around the beautiful streets. Eames led the way, stopping every once in a while to say hello to someone. They soon came to a building and walked up to where he kept a little place. Eames unlocked the door revealing a one bedroom apartment.

Cole rushed in and began to look around excitedly. Eames laughed as he watched her explore his occasional home. She opened a door that led out to a small balcony that overlooked the Grand Canal. She sighed at the sight of the sun glittering off the water, gondoliers taxing people around, shouts between friends, and singing.

After the two of them had settled in they went exploring. Eames took her to all the tourist spots first. He adored seeing her gush over the history and the culture of the ancient place. After spending a couple days seeing tourist spots Eames took her to hidden secrets. He took her to places tourists could never find, places where he always knew someone. All the natives greeted him royally and gushed over her like family meeting their son's girlfriend for the first time.

That night Cole fell asleep on his couch while watching a movie. She woke just as the credits began to role. Sitting up she turned off the TV and stretched. Looking around her, Cole found that she was alone. She got up from the couch and headed for the bedroom, figuring Eames had gone to bed. As she walked down the hall to the bedroom she saw light coming from another room. She looked in the doorway to see a kind of art studio.

The walls had various photos and artworks on them. The floor was splattered with different colors of paint. Off to the side was a table with different statues and figurines sitting on it. Eames was sitting in the middle of it all, an easel in front of him. His t-shirt and jeans, like the floor, were splattered with different colors of paint. She walked in and draped her arms around his shoulders.

"I didn't know you could paint."

"It's one of my many talents," he responded. Cole smiled and took a closer look at the painting.

"Wait a minute…isn't that…?"

"The Girl with the Pearl Earring. It's one of my favorites. Luckily the mark isn't artistically inclined and will never know the difference."

"You're forging a painting?" He nodded. "I thought you only forged people or money or stuff like that."

"I am multitalented my sweet. I can forge just about anything." He smiled up at her. Cole watched as he put in every detail perfectly.

"Why do you have to forge this painting?" He was silent for a moment. "I mean if I can ask…"

"You can. The mark has one of the original copies of this painting. The client believes that it belongs in a museum and not in the mark's gaudy house. So I am to forge it, someone will switch the paintings, and tada."

Cole leaned her chin on his shoulder. She watched for a little longer before he told her to help. Eames brought Cole in front of him, put the brush in her hand, and guided her movements. He talked her through every part as their hands glided together.

"Alright now we need to add a shadow." He tried to look over her shoulder to see where the palette was but couldn't see clearly. The brush landed on her t-shirt.

"That's not the palette Eames." He spun her around to see a mark on her pristine t-shirt. He shrugged.

"Oopse?"

"You need some glasses or something." Eames took the brush out of her hand and sent it across her cheek. Cole gasped at the touch of paint to her skin.

"Yeah I guess I do need glasses."

For revenge Cole smeared her hand in the paint on the palette and pressed it to his cheek. This caused Eames to take the brush to her neck. Cole squirmed at the feeling. She took the palette from his hands and pressed it onto his chest. This led him to picking up a paint can. He dipped his fingers in and flicked paint at her. Cole found her own can and did the same back. The two of them ran around the room flicking paint at each other, rubbing paint in each other's hair, and creating multicolored hand prints on each other's clothing. The paint war ended with Eames throwing Cole over his shoulder.

He carried her across the hall to the bathroom. He set her down in the shower and turned on the water. Cole screamed as the cold water hit her. She grabbed Eames, who was laughing, by the shirt and dragged him in.

The next day Eames took Cole dancing. Together they clumsily made their way around the dance floor. They laughed, danced, and talked with locals until midnight. Their flight back to Washington was early the next morning and they had little time to pack and sleep for a few hours. The walk back to Eames's apartment was filled with laughter and more clumsy steps. They were just a block away when trouble made itself known.

A man stepped out of an ally, he had been waiting for a good part of the night. He yelled something in Italian, something threatening in a dangerous deep voice. Eames yelled back to the man. Cole clung to Eames.

"Go up to the apartment Cole," he said pushing her back.

"I don't want to leave you. What is he yelling?" The man's voice grew louder and more frightening.

"It's nothing. He claims that I cheated in a game of cards. I can handle it. Please go back to the apartment."

"No I'm not leaving you Eames."

Eames tried desperately to get Cole to go away. The man's yelling voice irritated him like nothing else. He yelled back over his shoulder for the man to piss off and that he had lost fair and square. At that the man pulled out a gun and fired. Two shots hit Cole and two hit Eames. Cole went limp in his arms. Eames held her close while he reached for his own gun. He fired at the other man but missed. The other man stood paralyzed in fear, he was not expecting Eames to fire at him.

Eames yelled at the man to go back to whatever hell hole he crawled out of. If he did not the next few shots would not miss. The man dropped his gun and fled. Eames scooped Cole up in his arms and limped quickly and painfully to the apartment. She came too as he kicked the door open and kicked it shut. She began to moan and cry in pain. He rushed her to the bed and laid her down causing her to scream out.

"I'm sorry," rushed out of his mouth. He looked her over quickly to see where she had gotten hit. Blood rushed out of her right shoulder and up near her ribs. "Babe I need you to sit up okay?"

Cole nodded and allowed him to help her into a sitting position. She winced and tried not to cry. Eames lifted her shirt carefully. As the fabric came away the blood around the wounds made a sticky noise. He tossed her shirt to the floor and looked closer at the damage. The bullets hadn't gone all the way through he would have to dig them out.

"It hurts," she whined.

"I know. I'm sorry." He kissed her forehead and lightly pushed her back onto the pillows. "I have to dig them out."

"_Dig _them out?" she asked horrified. Eames had gone into a different part of the apartment to get his tools. He came back with a medieval looking set of pliers and other sharp utensils. "Oh God."

"It will be alright Cole." He hovered above her setting his things down. He wiped some of the blood away and then got the pliers ready.

"Wait! Aren't you going to give me something? Like something to numb me?"

He shook his head. "If I do that your muscles will relax. If the muscles relax then the bullets will go deeper." She sighed and gulped. "Just grip on to something and scream as loud as you want."

Cole tangled her fingers in the bedding and squeezed her eyes shut. Eames kissed her forehead and then dug into her shoulder. She screamed and gripped onto the sheets with all her might. She felt a tug and then heard a clinking sound. Eames had put the bullet into a little tin dish on the bedside table. Cole released her grip and slid her eyes open a little. Eames was putting gauze on her shoulder and binding it with cloth.

Blood began to trickle down his arm. "Eames," she gasped. He followed her gaze and examined his arm quickly.

"I'll deal with it in a second." Cole looked at him with wide eyes. How could he not be in pain? "Ready for the next one?"

She nodded and the pliers dug into her once more. She screamed and thrashed a little. Eames put his free hand on her stomach to keep her still. The bullet was lodged between her ribs, stopping it from hitting her lungs. He pulled quickly and popped the bullet out. The sound of clinking reached her ears once again. Eames was now wrapping that wound up with gauze and cloth. Cole slowly released the sheets from her death grip and tried to remember how to breath.

She watched as Eames then began to tend to himself. He had gotten hit in the shin and the arm. Eames stripped down to boxers and his undershirt, kicking off his shoes and socks as well. Cole watched as he barely winced while taking out the bullets. The metal clinked in the tin and then he bound his wounds. After the blood had stopped gushing Eames sewed them up and put fresh bandages.

"Are you okay?" he asked stroking her head. She nodded. "Do you think you can stand?"

Cole began to push herself up, Eames helping her the rest of the way. He grabbed one of his t-shirts and helped her into it. He walked her down the hall and set her down on the couch.

"I'm going to change the sheets and then I'll be right back."

Cole sat on the couch and ran her fingers over his stitch work under the gauze. She listened to him moving about the apartment. The sounds of his feet padding on the hardwood floor turned into a nice pattern. He finished his task and came to sit by her on the couch.

"Don't touch your stitches," he said taking her hand away from her shoulder.

"It hurts to breath." He turned so he faced her.

"Well the bullet didn't hit your lungs. Your rib must have popped out a little when I pulled the bullet out."

"How do you know? Do you have x-ray vision?"

He smiled. "No just a lot of experience." He stuck his hands under the shirt and felt around her ribcage. Cole gasped and he pulled away quickly. "Did I hurt you?"

"No your hands are like ice." Eames smiled and carefully began to feel around again. There it was. One of her ribs was slightly out of place. Without warning he pushed and the rib popped back in. Cole groaned.

"Better?" She nodded and leaned against him. "I'm sorry Cole. This is not what I had planned for our last night here. I'm sure you'll want payback. Hmm?"

"Nah. My father's Polo match tomorrow will be torture enough for you," she said with a smile. Eames made a face causing her to laugh. He put an arm around her and pulled her close. Eames rested his head against hers. Together they sat there for a moment just listening to one of the gondoliers singing.


	35. Chapter 35

**AN: So just a warning that some F bombs are dropped occasionally a little ways down. If you're sensitive to this...*shrugs* bleep them out in your mind? =)**

"Eames where the hell have you two been?" These were the first words that they heard. Cobb had heard from Kat that the two of them had run off together but didn't know where. He was waiting for them the second they walked in the house.

"We went on a little vacation. That's all."

"And you didn't think to tell me?"

"It wouldn't be much of a vacation if we told you now would it?" Eames set down the bags, his arm a little stiff.

"What if something had happened? Hmm? What if you or Cole were attacked by whatever group is coming after Alan? What if one of you got seriously injured? What then?" Eames was going to say something but Cobb didn't let him get in a word. "You left without telling me, you turned off you cell, you don't give us any notice of when you'd be back. You had me worried."

Eames smiled a little at Cobb's reaction. It always amused him for some reason when Cobb said he was worried about them. Cole stepped in then to calm him down. "Look Cobb we're sorry. We just needed a break from everything. We should have called or told you but…I mean we've come back in one piece. No harm no foul right?"

"So nothing happened then? You didn't run into any trouble?"

"Well we did get shot at," she said after a moment. Eames rolled his eyes.

"You were _shot at?_" Cobb turned a disapproving look on Eames. "Were you hit?"

"No," Eames answered.

"A couple of times," Cole said. "But we're fine. There's no serious damage," she added hastily after seeing the look on Cobb's face.

"Great Cole. Is there anything else you'd like to say?" She shrugged.

"I can't lie to him."

"Thank you Cole. You should go get ready for your father's …uhm whatever is going on." She picked up her suitcase and began her way to her room. Eames picked up his things and began to follow. Cobb smacked him in the back of the head.

"What the bloody hell was that for?"

"The next time you have an idiotic idea like that, do me a favor, don't do it. I was worried."

Eames rubbed the back of his head. "No need to be so touchy and protective Cobb. We're big kids. We can handle ourselves."

"I'm a father what do you expect?" Eames smiled and Cobb returned the gesture.

Eames and Cole finished cleaning up, making sure to hide their stitches. All the guests had arrived by the time they had made it downstairs. Alan was introducing everyone to Kat when the two of them came out into the backyard.

"Ah Nicole my girl," Alan said in a praising voice. "I believe you remember Mr. and Mrs. Winchester, Mrs. Black with her daughter-in-law Becky, Mr. Tosh, and all the rest."

"Yes I do remember. It's so nice to see you all," she said politely. She didn't know half the people who were all smiling at her.

"Come along Alan old chap," said one of the men. "We should get the match going while the day is fresh."

"Agreed," said Alan. "Eames my boy why don't you join us? Don't want to be stuck with the women do you?"

"I'll sit this one out Alan. Maybe later?" Aland nodded. He kissed Kat on the cheek and joined all the men on the lawn. The women sat together in the garden. Eames pulled out Cole's chair conscious of all the eyes on him. He sat next to her, arm stretched across the back of her chair.

"Oh Nicole before I forget," said one of the women. "I wanted to congratulate you on the engagement."

Cole looked at her confused. "Are you planning on proposing?" she asked with a smile turning to Eames.

"Oh no dear Suzan means your engagement to Robert Fischer," said one of the others. They all smiled at her with true excitement.

"You two will have the best marriage," Becky chipped in happily. "I can see the headline now. 'Fischer and Hareton union, the marriage of the century."

"I think you are all confused," Cole said flatly.

"But it's in the papers. Young Fischer is to be wed and it is to take place next winter."

"Yes Robbie is engaged but it's not to me." All their joyful smiles began to drop. "We're just friends. I'm actually involved with Mr. Eames here."

She looked over at him with a big smile. He returned the gesture with more than adoration in his gray blue eyes. The joyful smiles were far gone by now. All the women looked to the scruffy Eames, whom they thought was looking at the young lady disapprovingly. They took in his posture, style, and over all attitudes and judge him. Not a single one approved.

"And how long have you two been blissful together," asked a menacing looking woman.

"Uhm it's been…what two months almost?" Eames nodded.

"Hmm." Cole noticed the hint of dislike and turned sharply. "It's just that in such a short time you two seem so…attached," she said in response to the question in Cole's eyes.

"Well love has a way of working quickly," Eames replied.

"I was always told love works slowly. That it develops over years not months. I think it was lust that develops over months." Eames glared at the woman. "Or so I've been told."

"Well you're wrong," he said straight out. All the women were taken aback by his frankness.

"Excuse me?"

"You're excused." This coming from anyone else would seem childish. However coming from Eames it sent true offence like a smack to the face. The menacing woman set a hateful glare upon him. It had no effect. Eames remained calm and confident as always.

"What is your profession Mr. Eames?" asked Becky trying to change the subject.

"I have no set profession Miss."

"What ever do you mean?"

"I mean I have many professions."

"I see. Could you give us an example?"

Eames did his best to explain certain things. He gave them enough information without telling them that he was a basic criminal. The conversation moved on to their husband's, son's, or grandson's professions and onward. The women did most of the talking. Cole contributed every once in a while but remained mostly quiet. Eames could see the tension in her posture and could feel it rolling off her in waves. He lightly began to rub her neck to try and help. Cole flinched at his touch and adjusted so she sat uncomfortably straight in her seat.

He sighed and removed his arm from the back of her chair. He glanced down to see her hands in her lap. He slowly reached over and tried to hold her hand. Cole moved her hand quickly, pretending to scratch her head. She then moved her hands to rest on the table top where he wouldn't be able to sneak a touch. But that didn't stop him. He opted for running a finger lightly up and down her arm. She tried to move away without making it look awkward.

Luckily the others were distracted. The men were cheering over a few points scored. The women called to them to see what had happened. While the women had their backs turned Eames tried to steal a kiss. Cole pushed him away.

"Stop," she whispered to him.

"What? I can't even give you a little kiss?"

"No. Now stop." The women turned back and resumed their conversation. Eames stood from the table.

"Excuse me ladies. I'll just go see how the match is going."

"Well I don't see why a girl like you is with _him_," said one of them after Eames had walked off.

"There is nothing wrong with me being with Eames Mrs.…"

"Huntington dear."

"Mrs. Huntington. Eames is a perfectly respectable man…when he wants to be."

"A lady such as yourself surely deserves a better choice," added Becky. "Robert Fischer is a perfect example. He has a good disposition, a good financial situation, and he is very handsome. It really is too bad you're not marrying him."

"Fuck you Becky." The women gasped. "I don't deserve a man like Robbie. I am perfectly happy to be his friend."

"Yes but surely his fortune and place in society…"

"God what is it with you people? His fortune? His place in society? This isn't Pride and fucking Prejudice! Get over it."

"Your choice of language offends the ear Nicole," spoke Mrs. Black. "A lady should not speak in such a manner."

Cole laughed. "Please I am no lady. I am the only normal human being at this table however. And unlike the rest of you I do not judge people as you have judged my Eames."

With that Cole stood and left the table. The women instantly began to throw a fit. Things like 'Well I never', 'Rude child', 'What a little beast', and 'Her father shall hear of this' went flying about. Cole smiled to herself feeling very proud. She instantly began to search for her forger to apologize. She found him just inside the doors leading to the patio.

"There you are. I've been looking for you." She put her hands on his chest. He removed them without a second thought.

"You might not want to do that. They may be watching. Don't want them to see you touching me in any affectionate way." Cole's heart dropped.

"I'm sorry. I know I was wrong."

"You flinched from me."

"I know. I'm sorry. I just let them get to me. I should have been stronger." Eames didn't say anything. "You would have been proud of what I told them after you left."

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh really?"

She nodded. "I am sorry. They may look like harmless old rich ladies but their words can sting."

"You think I give two shits what those old hags say or think? Not in this life time. And you shouldn't care either."

"Not caring, got it," she said with a smile. "How can I ever make it up to you?"

"I can think of something." He took her in his arms and kissed her. The kiss grew more passionate as they tugged to get as close as possible. Eames kissed down to her neck. Cole twisted her fingers in his jacket. She wished everything around them would just disappear so that it could just be them. Eames worked his way back to her lips and kissed the breath out of her.

"Well," said a voice from the doorway. They both startled and pulled away but stayed locked in each other's arms.

"Mrs. Shrewsbury," Cole said with a startled breath. "Uhm…"

"_Excuse _me," she said. She walking, grabbed a pack of cigarettes, and left. The second she was gone they began to laugh.

"Oh my God," Cole laughed. She buried her face in his chest. They laughed a little more before they collected themselves and went back outside.


	36. Chapter 36

**AN: Have you ever tried one of Ariadne's mazes? If you're on Facebook and an INCEPTION freak like me, go on like INCEPTION and look for Ariadne's Minute Mazes  
**

**Highly recommend this! It is awesome =)**

"Blood! It's the blood," he yelled out dramatically. "Blood is the key!" Yusuf then looked around him. The others looked on with concerned eyes.

"I think Yusuf has been playing with too many chemicals," Arthur said. Yusuf rushed over and grabbed Cole. He dragged her over to his little corner of the study so that no one else would hear.

"It was blood Cole."

"So I heard." She was tempted to slowly back away from the crazy chemist.

"No, no, no. For the compound. Your blood was the element I needed. Now wherever you are we can access your dreams," he said excitedly. He pulled her to his microscope and had her look. "See how the blood mixes perfectly with the other elements? It doesn't over power them but mixes seamlessly. It's perfect!"

"Great and unnerving at the same time," she said now looking at a little glass jar filled with a thick liquid. That was the compound that could save her life if it needed saving.

"Don't worry. It will only be used in the case of emergency." He gave her a reassuring smile. Cobb came into the study then.

"So what are we doing today?" Cole asked him excitedly. "More tricks to extraction?"

"I've taught you all the tricks you need to know. So have the rest of the team. You are now trained, your projections militarized, and all the secrets locked up."

A realization and terror came over her heart. "So…that's it? We're done?"

Cobb nodded. "You don't need us anymore. We've taught you everything we know. You're all of us in one person."

"So what now?" she asked already knowing what was coming next.

"We leave. We go on to other jobs, or in my case back to my kids and my regular job."

Cole nodded. She understood but her heart still shattered into millions. She watched as they all began to clear out the study. Soon it was a bare lifeless room again. All of them called and booked tickets and were to depart the next day. Cole sat in the study a little longer while the rest of them went on to pack. Cole sat on the couch thinking about how she would miss each and every one of them. It would be strange to not see them every day. All of this was happening too fast.

She would miss Eames the most of course. It would be strange to wake up and not see him every morning. But maybe he would stay a few more weeks. Or maybe he'd even stay for another month. He could stay here with her, Alan wouldn't care. They could carry on as they have been. Excited by this thought Cole got up and rushed to her room. She opened her bedroom door and her heart broke into more pieces, if possible.

Cole closed the door silently behind her. He was packing his things up just like the rest of them.

"So you're leaving." It wasn't a question.

"You heard Cobb. We've done everything we can for you. You've locked everything up. You're safe," he said walking over to her and cupping her face. He planted a chaste kiss on her lips before going back to his task.

"That doesn't mean you have to leave. I mean not right away at least."

"There are other jobs out there Cole. I need other jobs to survive."

"Is that all I am?" Eames paused and turned. "Am I just a job to you? Just something to be dealt with and then once it's done…"

"Don't pull that," he interrupted shaking his head. "You know that's not what I meant." Cole looked away from him. Eames walked over and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I need to go. I can't stay here."

"Why not?" she asked sourly, turning her gaze back to him.

"Because I don't belong here. I need to be in my own setting with people like myself."

"Oh what like Washington doesn't have criminals?" She tugged harshly out of his grasp.

"Not enough for me to be able to blend in." He was starting to get tense. He didn't want to fight with her but she wasn't making it easy. "Plus I think your high class society would rather see you with some bloke like Robert Fischer."

"I don't care what _they_ want for me! I thought you couldn't give two shits about what those people think!" Eames didn't answer. He put his hands on his hips and huffed out a sigh. Cole let out her own frustrated sigh. "God Eames we just got things back to normal. Can't you stay for a month?"

"No Cole I can't."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because I don't do normal! I don't do staying in one place for too long. I don't do Polo matches every Sunday with the bloody gang. I don't do 'Honey I'm home' at the end of every bloody day. I'd go insane!"

"_Please_," she laughed nastily. "As if you aren't insane already."

"You frustrate me you know that?" He was now throwing the rest of his belongings into his suitcase. Folding and being neat didn't seem to matter when in an angry state. Things were spiraling downwards so quickly. How had they gone from kissing this morning to fighting now?

"Oh good! I'm so glad! Now you know how I feel. God knows you frustrate me to no end!" She picked up a shirt he had dropped on the floor and threw it in the suitcase.

"Well then maybe we should just end it," he said angrily as she began to head for her door. Cole paused, slightly tripping over her own feet. She turned and for a quick second her anger and hate melted. Shock and sadness passed over her features. What did he just say?

"Fine," she said, anger and hate coming back as quickly as they had left. She swept a hand through her hair. "Fine! Great! It's over, ended."

"Great," he said waving his arms into the air to show that it made no difference to him. "Glad we agreed."

"Yeah couldn't be more excited." She turned on her heels and headed for her door again.

"You are still a heartless bitch," he said sounding as if he was in shock.

"And you're still a pompous asshole." She shrugged. "And there is _still_ nothing to be done about it." On her way out Cole caught glimpse of a colorful package sitting on her dresser. "Don't forget your goddamn Christmas gift."

She picked it up and tossed it to him before leaving. The door slammed shut behind her. The sound echoed through the chambers of her heart painfully. Cole made her way down the winding stairs and down the hall. She wanted to cry so badly but for some reason couldn't find the strength to break down.

Eames, meanwhile, finished packing. As he threw clothing in his bag, he glanced at the door every once in a while expecting her to walk back in. She never came back. Eames finished and zipped up his bag still feeling furious. He sat on his couch bed, elbows resting on his knees and hands folded. He sat there unmoving for a time before seeing the gift out of the corner of his eye. Eames picked up the package and eased it open. A piece of folded paper slipped out and fell to the floor. He picked it up before tearing the paper more. He pulled out a silver picture frame.

He looked at the photo it framed and smiled. Five different pictures had been put together to create one. There was one in each corner and one in the center. The picture in the upper left hand corner was them kissing in the grass, in the bottom left corner was one of the whole group, in the upper right hand was the picture of her and Marty, and in the lower right was a nice picture of her and him. The center photo was his favorite. It was the black and white photo of her laughing on a swing, the sunlight giving off artistic shadows in the background.

Eames unfolded the paper and saw Cole's familiar handwriting.

Eames,

I may or may not have opened your gift and slipped this in. I hope you like it and hope it will always bring back good memories. I want you to remember that wherever you are I'll always be with you.

I love you (tired of hearing it yet?)

Cole

His smile grew and then disappeared quickly. What had he done? He got up quickly and flung open the door. He made his way down the tiresome staircase and down into the hall. Where to find her? The gazebo, he'd look there first. Eames was determined to tear the house apart to find her. As he made his way to the gazebo he thought about what he was doing. He was going to ask Cole for forgiveness, lay his heart at her feet, and ask her to come to Mombasa with him. That stopped his dead in his tracks. He couldn't take Cole to Mombasa. It was far too dangerous and far too many people wanted Eames's blood. Italy came directly to his mind. She could have died that night and that was just dealing with a simple cheated local. He was foolish to think Mombasa would be any safer.

Eames turned back towards the house. Kat ambushed him as he walked in.

"Is there a reason Cole is acting like a zombie?" Eames walked past her ignoring everything. "Eames talk to me," she said grabbing his arm. He stopped and turned.

"I love you Kat but Cole and I are none of your concern."

"I'd say you are. You're my friend and I've gotten attached to Cole. Infact she is going to be my stepdaughter." Kat held out her left hand to show him the small diamond.

"Oh Kat." He hugged her like a good friend but his heart was not in it.

"So are you going to tell me what's going on?" she asked as he released her.

"Nope." Kat sighed as he turned his back and began to walk away. "Take care of her Kat," he said over his shoulder.

The next morning the whole household was up and about early. The team was loading their things into cars, the servants were making little breakfast bags so they would have something to eat, and Cole was with her father and Kat waiting to depart. They split up into two cars. Cobb, Yusuf, Arthur, and Ariadne went in one while Alan, Kat, Cole, and Eames went in another. Kat watched the couple closely, taking note that they did not look at or touch each other.

The two cars pulled up to the airport unloading zone and parked. The drivers got out and put the luggage on the sidewalk. Everyone said their goodbyes and thanks with some tears. Ariadne was the one who had started it. She felt as if she were saying goodbye to a sister when she hugged Cole.

"Come and see Arthur and me sometime. You'd love Paris, I know you would. Come and see us, promise?"

"I promise," Cole answered feeling her throat tighten. They hugged once more before Cole was passed to Arthur. He hugged her tightly, allowing his perfect clothing to get rumpled. Yusuf was the next to hug her and then Cobb.

"Be careful Cole. Remember everything we taught you. If you need us at all you know you can always call. Right?" She nodded tears now coming down. Cobb smiled sweetly and hugged her again.

As she moved back from Cobb, Eames moved up to her side. The rest of them were talking to Kat and Alan leaving them alone. Cole wiped the tears away and shifted her weight uncomfortably. Eames cleared his throat before he spoke.

"So this is it then."

"Yup it is." They stood there a moment in unbearable silence.

"Right…well good luck to you then."

"Yeah you too." She gave him a meaningless smile and looked quickly away from him.

"Well we better catch our flights," Cobb announced. They all said goodbye one more time and then the team dispersed into the crowd. Cole watched them all go different directions. She watched Eames intently.

"Turn around," she said quietly to herself. "Look back at me. Look back. Look back. Eames look back."

He paused for a moment. Cole's heart jumped and her breath hitched. He was going to turn around. He was going to look at her one more time. She watched as he pulled his ticket from his pocket, looked at it, looked up, and continued walking. The breath she had been holding came out in a rush. She could feel her bottom lip begin to tremble and tears threaten her eyes once more.

"Cole darling," said her father. "Ready?"

She cleared her throat, wiped her hand across her eyes, and turned away. "Let's go."

The three of them got into the car and began heading home. On the ride back Alan fell asleep while the two women remained awake and silent. Kat looked from her window to Cole. The young girl sat very still in her seat looking out her own window. Kat noticed that Cole looked very far away at the moment. Though Cole's face was statuesque her eyes were full of deep hidden emotion. Kat looked to see the necklace Eames had given her was not around her neck has it had been that morning. She looked to see the silver chain hanging out of Cole's clenched hand.

Cole sat in her seat aware that she was being watched closely. Having been around the forger's watchful eye for so long she was no able to know when she was being surveyed. Cole kept her gaze out her own window so she could think freely. She replayed the events from yesterday in her mind. Going through the fight, Cole knew she still loved Eames even when she had slammed the door shut and walked away from him. She had expected him to come after her.

When he hadn't come after her, she thought that maybe something would happen today. Maybe he would decide not to leave. But seeing him walk off the way he did made her realize that it was really over.

"I don't love you like I loved you yesterday," she thought to herself. She clutched the necklace in her hand, the key making an imprint on her soft skin. When they got home Cole went right up to her room not wanting to be bothered by anyone. She walked over to her dresser and opened her mother's old music box. It was something inherited and something to lock away hurtful bits of her past. The tune started out shaky but went on strong. Cole placed the silver key to Eames's heart inside the box and closed it, cutting the tune short.

**AN: You sick of my notes yet? =) I just have a couple more things to say. Cole's little "...look back at me" came from North & South. I recommend seeing it! And the "I don't love you like I loved you yesterday" is from My Chemical Romance- I don't love you **


	37. Chapter 37

**AN: First, Thatsaporkpie I'm sorry I made you cry! But like you said you are so in tune with the characters, you feel their pain. Which is awesome by the way! I know you guys must hate these short little tid bits but guess what…they are needed =P**

"Do we strike now Vlad?"

Vlad thought carefully about this. It had to be done just right. "No. We must allow her to feel a false sense of security."

"I see," said one of the women. "We let her think she is safe and then we go after her."

"Correct Sally."

"Do we kidnap her?" asked someone else.

"No. They will expect that. All the authorities will be trying to follow our trail."

"So what do we do Vlad?"

"Well if you'd stop asking idiotic questions you'd hear it." He glared at the questioner as they ducked their head. "What we are going to do is... set up a false kidnapping. They authorities will follow it. This leaves the rest an opportunity to get to Cole. We will keep her in the house. They won't expect it."

"What are we going to do about Alan?" someone ventured.

"Ah yes. Our dear Alan is going to be married soon. He will be on his honeymoon when we strike. He won't be able to save her or interfere. All of you make sure you are prepared. We can't afford any foul ups," he added with a look to Jacob.

Jacob, still in a cast, ignored all the looks everyone was giving him. He refused to believe that he was the only one who could possibly mess anything up. He also still blamed Quin and Zek for backing out of his plan and thus causing a kid to get killed and two friends to be put in jail.


	38. Chapter 38

**Two months later : **

All he needed was for that bloody little ball to fall on eleven. That's all he was asking for. If only his chips would multiply. He was rubbing them together hard enough God knows but no such luck.

"When is the wheel going to stop spinning?" he thought to himself. It slowed, and slowed, and slowed. Finally the little white ball began to make up its mind. Eleven, eleven, eleven, c'mon eleven…

"And the winner is…eight!"

"Bloody, son of a…, mother…" Eames let out a long sigh.

"Don't worry sugar," said the woman hanging on him. A trampy tourist he had found wandering the streets of Mombasa. "You'll get the next one." She kissed his cheek and slipped her hand across his chest.

Eames closed his eyes and tried to think. The woman began to draw little circles with the palm of her hand on his chest. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He began to imagine he was somewhere else and with someone else. It was relaxing and made him feel at home.

"Open your eyes Eames," said her sweet familiar voice. His eyes snapped open. Eames spun around and found that it was still the tourist and not who he was hoping for. The woman smiled at him before he turned back. He rubbed his face and tried to focus. He looked up to the empty seat across from him, only it was no longer empty.

There she was. His girl, the love of his life, his sweet angel. She smiled at him. Oh how he missed that smile. He missed holding her and missed watching her sleep. Eames watched as she mouthed 'I love you'. He would give anything to hear her say it.

"Sir," said the dealer. "Sir are you betting?"

"Hmm?" he mumbled without looking away from her.

"Are you betting?"

"Oh…yes." He placed his bet and looked back. She was gone, only a half remembered dream now. He lost his next bet and decided to quit for the night.

"It's alright honey lamb," said the woman following him out of the casino. "You'll get them some other time."

"Look do us a favor hmm? Go away." Eames turned from her and walked away. He made his way "home" and flung himself on the couch. He looked up at the ceiling with a thousand thoughts running through his skull. Absentmindedly he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the picture she had given him. He had lost the frame somewhere along the way. The picture was bent and dog-eared now.

He had also torn it up in a fit of drunken rage. He had then carefully taped it back together the very next morning. He looked at the pictures that had been combined to make one and began to only think about her. He almost hated how much she had changed him. He had turned from a playboy, fighter, one-night-stand-only man into a gentleman like, lover, one woman man. He wanted to hate that he had become this man but he knew he was lying to himself.

Eames sighed and set the picture down on the table by the couch. He stood and began to search his apartment. This would be a good time, if there ever was one, to drown his sorrows and thoughts with good whiskey and a smoke.

**AN: Poor tortured Eames. Someone give him a hug! Infact let's all go give him a hug 3**


	39. Chapter 39

"Eames is in town on a job," Kat said as she and Cole sat together outside. Her father and his friends were having their usual Sunday Polo match out on the lawn. The other women had decided to move themselves to a different table after Cole's little outburst.

"Good for him," she answered nonchalantly. Kat would get no reaction out of her. So what if he was around or not?

"Maybe we could go and see him. I think he'd like that."

"No I think father is busy these next few weeks. He won't have time and I know he likes having you around when things get stressful. You two also have the wedding coming up."

"Well then maybe you could just go? His hotel is only fifteen minutes away. Or if you want we could get you a room in the hotel. That way you and he could be closer. I'll bet Eames would like to spend some time with you…"

"It's out of the question Kat," Cole answered quickly. She was getting frustrated and didn't want to hear Eames's name mentioned again.

"But Nicole…"

"I said it's out of the question! Just drop it Kat," Cole pleaded.

"No I won't drop it. I know you still love him and you need to see him." Cole tried to ignore the words but Kat wouldn't let her. Kat turned Cole so that they were face to face. "You still love him Cole and I have to believe that he still loves you! You two are so stubborn that you're perfect for each other! You want to be with him don't you? Don't you?"

Cole pulled out of Kat's grasp. "Of course I do! But I can't Kat. We can't be together. He said as much when we broke it off. Eames doesn't do "normal". He can't function in my high class society." Cole sniffled. She didn't want to waste anymore tears on Eames but she couldn't hold in the emotion. "As if I wouldn't give up my luxuries and adjust for him! He would never _think_ to do so for me."

"Oh Cole," Kat said with a sweet sadness. She could see and hear the love mixed in with anger. Kat was instantly sorry she brought up the subject. She was about to apologize and pull Cole into a hug but Cole's shaky voice stopped her.

"It hurts to want everything and nothing at the same time. I want what's his and I want what's mine. But I have no more. There's nothing left to give." The sadness was creeping into her voice. Tears threatened to spill over. Cole excused herself, stood, and left the garden, hand over her mouth to muffle the sobs. She climbed up the patio steps and went inside the house to seek a sanctuary.

She found her sanctuary in her father's private study. She galumphed into the big armchair behind the desk. Cole closed her eyes not caring if tears stained her cheeks or not. She began to spin around. It started out slow and gained speed. For some reason or other Cole was possessed of the idea that if she spun fast enough she could go back and stop herself from falling for Eames.

She was almost at warp speed when the phone rang. Cole's eyes opened as she tried to stop herself. The room was still spinning while she picked up the phone from her father's desk.

"Hello?"

"There you are. My Cole. My sweet…"

"Eames?"

"Oh Cole I've missed you. I need you darling…"

"Are you drunk again?"

"Maybe…sure…that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that I love you."

Cole laughed harshly. "You _love _me do you? Funny because two weeks ago you told me you hate me. That you would rather be with anyone but me. You told me that you had gotten your prize and didn't need me anymore."

"No, no, no. Don't…forget what I said. I was drunk that night."

"You're drunk right now! How am I supposed to believe anything you say sober or drunk?"

"I love you! Believe that."

"Stop playing with me!" Cole slammed the receiver back in its place. She placed her elbows on the desk and put her head in her hands. Her heart couldn't take anymore blows. But of course things were only made worse that night. She was back to having dreams about him.

That night she walked out onto a stage. The spotlight hit her, revealing a crowd of black masses around her. They cheered and whistled for her. She understood her role instantly. Cole was playing the part of Marion Cotillard in Nine. In the crowd she could see Eames playing the part of the horrible husband Guido Contini.

Cole began to sing "Take it All" to the howling crowd and the quiet Eames. She started out calm and uncaring but as the song went on she felt the passion and hurt rising out of her voice. The other men reached for her and tried to pull her into the crowd. She pushed them back and kept going. As the song went on the words began to ring true more and more.

Words such as "You want my soul? Take it all!" and "But don't you see that in the end there will be nothing left of me!"

The dream ended with her exposed on the stage, Eames unmoving from his seat, and the crowd cheering like animals. Cole woke and found herself thinking she'd find Eames lying next to her. She cursed herself for thinking this way and for occasionally pretending she was holding his hand while she slept.

Cole turned over and tried to go back to sleep.

**AN: Yes Cole is feeling tortured too. But I'm not sure if she is missing Eames quite as much. What do you think? **

**If you have not seen Nine yet you should check it out. See our very own Mal kick ass in singing and being more awesome. **


	40. Chapter 40

She was sitting in bed, watching TV, feeling extremely rested. It was unusual especially with everything considered. Since she met Eames she had never gotten a restful night's sleep. Pushing the thought away Cole decided that it was time to get dressed for the day. She came down stairs and got her breakfast. After that she tried to figure out what to do with herself. It was strange to not have something to do. Be it mazes, learning about paradoxes, or going into her crazy Tim Burtonesque mind.

Figuring that staying at home was useless, Cole went into town. She wandered aimlessly around looking in different stores, saying hello to familiar locals, and going anywhere she could think of. She ended up in a park nearby where she and Marty used to play. While walking she noticed a man following her. Cole kept walking, keeping calm, telling herself it was nothing to freak out over.

She glanced back to see a woman had joined him. They were watching her intently and getting a little closer than she'd like. Knowing it was pointless Cole went into the exercise of thinking back as to how she had gotten here. She of course remembered everything she had just done and how she had gotten to the park. She thought back further to that morning. She didn't remember getting up that morning or turning on the TV. For that matter she didn't remember going to bed the night before.

Oh God.

Cole dug for her totem. She pulled out the little silver knight and watched it anxiously. She prayed with every ounce of her being that it didn't change into a rusty bronze color. To her disappointment it changed. Panic bloomed inside her chest as she momentarily forgot how to breathe. She placed the totem back in her pocket trying to make it look like a normal gesture. Cole didn't dare glance back at the man and woman, she knew they were still following her. She gradually sped up until she broke out into a flat run.

Cole ran as fast as her feet would carry her. Needing a place to desperately hide a door materialized a little ways ahead of her. She ran for it like her life depended on it, and it did. She was almost there when a root made its way up and tripped her. Down she went. Those bastards. This was her dream…

"This is my dream," she realized. Suddenly every projection stopped. They all turned towards the intruders who had stopped dead in their tracks. Cole stood and the two continued their pursuit. She backed up towards the door as her projections set in on the man and woman. Cole slammed the door shut as the two were torn apart.

She watched as the door melted away behind her. She looked around to see she was in an old story book cottage. She slumped against a wall and breathed deep breaths. She knew they weren't the only two in here. There were more intruders, she could feel their minds within hers. She more than hoped that someone would come to save her.

"Eames where are you?" she whispered to herself.


	41. Chapter 41

He checked his hotel room once more to make sure he hadn't left anything behind. The picture was tucked away safely in his jacket pocket, nothing in the drawers, bathroom was empty, his ticket was in his bag, nothing on the nightstand. He opened the door and was surprised to see all of them standing in the hallway.

"Cole is missing," Ariadne said with some difficulty. Eames felt his luggage slip from his fingers and heard it hit the ground. He invited them into his room and promptly turned on the TV. It was all over the news, how had he not known?

"Nicole Hareton, daughter of tycoon Alan Hareton, is still missing," said the news caster. "Late last week authorities caught wind of a disturbance at the Hareton estate. Two black vans were then seen pulling out of the driveway. One with Nicole Hareton inside. A pedestrian captured the following video."

"That is a cool house hu hun?" said the voice of the man behind the camera.

"Are you seeing this?" asked the woman.

"What?"

"Alex look. Come here." The man walked over to the gate where his wife was. He pointed the camera in the direction she was looking. People were dragging a girl out to one of the vans. She was bound and had a bag over her head.

"Hey! What are you doing?" called out Alex. The people rushed the girl into the van and began to drive for the gate. "Sam call the cops! Call the cops!"

The couple got out of the way as both vans burst through the gate and took off down the street. Cop cars blared their sirens and followed. The tape ended and the news reporter came back.

Eames felt his gut twist into a knot. He sat there staring at the TV, trying to remember how to breathe.

"Eames did you hear me?" asked Arthur sharply. He snapped too and looked to the point man. "Yusuf and Cole were working on a compound that will help us. Yusuf explain."

"I fused her DNA with the regular substances of the compound. Because her DNA is mixed in we should be able to get into the dream and find her. We can then find out where they have taken her and come to the rescue," he said proudly.

"Then what are we waiting for?" he asked removing his jacket and rolling up his sleeve. The rest followed his actions. They all hooked themselves up and found their own areas to sleep.

"Ready?" called Cobb's voice.

"Ready," they all replied in unison. Cobb pressed the plunger down releasing the compound into their systems.

They were all standing in the middle of a small town. People like Lady Gaga, Sam and Dean Winchester, and Jared Leto were walking around. Halloween decorations were all set up while music from She & Him was playing from invisible speakers.

"We are definitely in Cole's mind," observed Arthur as Edward Scissorhands went walking by.

"Yes we certainly are. Yusuf this compound is the best idea you've had," said Cobb.

"Now to find Cole." Eames didn't want to waste time congratulating Yusuf. He could do that after they had Cole back.

"But where to start?" asked Ariadne looking around. There was nothing that could possibly giver her away.

"We also need to find the assholes that took her," Arthur added.

"I'll be the bate," Eames said in Cole's voice. He had flawlessly shifted into her, every detail perfect.

"Alright here is what we are going to do," Cobb said. "Does everyone have a cell? Make sure it is on. Whoever finds Cole first bring her to…the art gallery over there. Then contact the others. We'll have Cole turn it into a fort to buy us time."

They all split up and went on a search for Cole.

Meanwhile Cole was having her own issues. Three men were chasing her. She had lost one of them in a labyrinth. Vines had dragged him into the hedges and placed him in a whole different part of the maze that he would never get out of. The maze emptied out into her Coliseum/Victorian building, the very first thing she had created. One of the men followed her in while the other stayed out.

Cole ran up a flight of stairs and slowed as she reached the top. The man was right behind her. They stared each other down before he sprinted at her. Cole moved in time and the man fell off the edge of the stairs. Cole walked over to the edge that stopped abruptly and ended in a sharp drop to a type of basement.

"That's right," she said looking over the edge. "I just paradoxed your ass!"

Feeling proud of herself Cole walked back out of the building. The maze was gone and replaced with a large field. She looked around but didn't see the other man.

"I know there was another one of you." As soon as she spoke he appeared. He came up behind her and got her into a choke hold. Cole fought against him wildly before relaxing and remembering her fight sessions. What was that little rhyme Eames had told her?

"Break his toes and then his nose," came an echo of the forger's voice. Cole stomped down as hard as she could. The man howled. She now had enough space to jam her elbow into his nose. Another howl of pain. Cole broke free and took her stance.

"You bitch!"

"Aww what's the matter? Upset because a girl just broke your face?" she taunted. Enraged he charged. Cole fought off each attack with perfection. Each of her hits were wide and tight, each moment felt right.

"Your boyfriend isn't coming for you. He won't save you," he taunted back.

"Says you and I am in no position to believe a word you say." He tried to kick her legs out from under her but he was the one who ended up on his ass.

"I heard he's been sticking it to a lot of other women." This caught Cole off guard momentarily. He got in a punch but she bounced back quickly. "What's the matter? Jealous?"

"I'm not jealous!" Cole threw a hard punch to his throat making him choke. Cole finished him off with a roundhouse kick. He went flying back and fell into a deep well she had manifested behind him.

Cole fell to the grass with a sigh. She had been running from these people for days now. Why hadn't anyone come to help her? Was Eames with someone else? Is that why he hadn't come? Did he not care anymore? Or was it that he was in his own trouble? She ran a hand through her hair feeling exhausted. She needed yet another new place to hide. She was about to open another door when a figure stepped out of the tree line.

"Oh for the love of God!" She wrenched the door open and was about to go through. She stopped noticing that the figure was familiar. "Yusuf?"


	42. Chapter 42

Yusuf made the call while Cole got them back into the little town.

"Okay they are on their way," he said hanging up the phone. The two of them were back on the Halloween decorated street. Cole was looking around at her projections with a little concern. "What? What's the matter?"

"We kinda stick out. They will be able to pick us out of a crowd in a second." With that every strange and unique character transformed into a copy of Cole. Even Yusuf was changed. "They want me, they can have millions of me."

"C'mon we should get into the art gallery," he said in her voice. They crossed the street keeping an eye out for anyone who didn't look like Cole. Once inside Yusuf was back to his old self. Inside the gallery Cole wiped away all the projections so they could have it for themselves.

Together Cole and Yusuf waited patiently for everyone to come to the gallery. One by one Cobb, Ariadne, and Arthur arrived looking like Cole. The second they stepped inside the image of herself faded off them. She greeted each one with relief and happiness. They had all come to save her. Well all but one that is…

"Cole I need you to try and remember what happened," Cobb said putting his hands on her shoulders. "Can you do that for me?" She nodded and tried very hard to concentrate.

"Damnit where is he? We need to put up a burrier," said Arthur. He looked out one of the windows impatiently. "Maybe we should just do it now."

"No we have to wait for him," Ariadne insisted. "He'll be here."

"Who?" Cole asked.

"Eames of course," Yusuf added. "Who else?"

"He's here?" Cole's tone was filled with surprise and joy.

"Of course he is here. Do you think he would just leave you in the hands of the bad guys?"

Just then the door to the gallery opened and a copy of Cole walked in. The copy shut the door and turned around to lean on it. The second the copy turned around it was no longer Cole but Eames. The two of them stared at each other unmoving.

"They followed him. Cole we need a fort," Arthur ordered.

She snapped too and walled off the gallery. Arthur watched from the window as brick after brick piled up stopping the intruders. They shot at the wall in vain. The building began to shake as a moat was dug all around it and filled with murky deep water.

"Nice," Arthur said impressed.

Cole smiled and then put her attention back on Eames. He was still in the same place and still watching her. Without another thought the both of them began walking to each other in quick steps. Forgetting everything that had happened, they wrapped their arms tightly around each other. Cole closed her eyes and pressed her cheek into his chest. He held her back so he could look at her and know she wasn't just some copy.

"You jerk!" She shoved at his chest pushing him back a little. He looked at her confused. "You said you'd never let anything happen to me. You told me that if they got near me you'd dismember them. What the hell?"

He could help but laugh a little. He pulled her back into his arms.

"Guys I don't mean to ruin the moment but we are running out of time," Cobb said. Cole nodded but didn't dare let go of Eames.

"Right uhm…Kat and my father are on their honeymoon. The security is gone. Uhm…"

"I know it's hard to remember but try. Did they come to the house?"

"Yes. They came, tied my hands, put a bag over my head. God I can't…"

"It's alright Cole," Cobb said reassuringly. "You're doing great. Now can you remember if they took you somewhere?"

"A van. They put me in a van…we drove off but…we turned and went back to the house. I'm still in the house," she said with realization.

"The last we heard was that the cops were chasing a van," Ariadne informed her. "You're sure you're still in the house?"

She nodded. "They said something about a decoy."

"Cole why haven't you tried to get out of the dream?"

"Trust me I have been trying. I'm always prevented from doing it. One of them has a strong mind. He over powers me any time I've tried to kill myself or generate a kick. He wants to keep me in here."

"Well there is no need to worry," Eames said squeezing her to his side. "We're in the hotel. Only fifteen minutes away. We can get to you in no time."

"We should go," Yusuf suggested. He began to head for the door they had come through.

"No not that door," Cole said quickly. "Go through this one."

She led them to another door she created. It opened into a different scene where they would be able to escape. She watched as they ran through the door one by one. Eames was about to go through when panic gripped her heart.

"Eames?" she said shakily. He turned back and saw the worry deep in her eyes. He rushed back to her.

"Don't worry love," he said tucking her hair behind her ear. "When you open your eyes I'll be right there. Keep yourself locked up in here." He took out his gun, cocked it, and placed it in her hand. "There is one in the chamber. Wait a little. We're fifteen minutes away. You have to give us some time." She nodded, put the gun into the waist band of her jeans, and gripped onto his shoulders for support. They flung their arms around each other again and held tight.

"Eames we have to go now," came Arthur's stressed voice.

"Don't let me down," Cole whispered before letting him go.

"Never." He gave her a quick kiss and then rushed after the others.


	43. Chapter 43

Eames tore the needle out of wrist and stood. The others were up and ready to go within seconds. They made their way out to the lobby of the hotel where Eames spotted someone getting out of their car. All of them having the same idea hurried before the valet could get the keys.

"Yoink!" Ariadne snatched the keys away from the owner while everyone piled into the car. She drove with precision and speed. They made it to the Hareton estate within no time. They jumped out of the car, leaving the engine on. Eames went in first rushing through the house. He took out anything and anyone that got in his way. He grabbed one of the intruders by the neck, a man huddled in the corner out of fear.

"Where is she?" He pressed his gun to the man's back.

"S-s-she is….upstairs. In the l-l-library."

"Right. You are going to come with me and act as a human shield. Understand?" The man didn't answer. Eames shoved the gun harder into his back. "_Understand?_"

"Yes," whispered the man in response.

"Good boy. Go on." Eames kept a tight grip on his neck as they made their way up. Eames kicked the door open and moved in. He threw his hostage to the floor and walked over to the group who were hooked up along with Cole. The rest of the team followed in after him.

"I don't understand," Arthur said looking at the PASIV machine. "The time has run out. Why aren't they awake?"

Yusuf came over and checked the machine. "Unhook her quickly!"

Eames removed the wristband as quickly as his shaking hands would allow. Holding the IV line in his hand Eames noticed a dark purple liquid flowing through. This was not the usual compound. What was this stuff?

"Check her," Yusuf instructed. Eames bent down and put a hand to her cheek.

"Cole wake up." She didn't move. "Cole. It's alright. We're here, you're safe pet." She still didn't stir. Eames began to panic. He pressed two fingers to her wrist. There was no pulse. "What did you do to her?" he yelled at the man cowering on the floor.

"I-I-I was only supposed to be a look out," he cried. "I'm not sure what they did." He then began to ramble on about how he was sorry and how he wanted to live. Sick of hearing his pleading and blubbering Eames pistol whipped him into silence. The cops could have this one.

Eames rushed back to Cole and gathered her up in his arms and laid her on the floor. He began to go through the motions of CPR. The others stood by watching, their hearts breaking along with his. They had been too late.

"A poison was released. It was set to go off if the dream collapsed," Yusuf explained with tears in his eyes. "The others are all dead. I'm sorry."

Ariadne pressed her hand to her mouth. Tears slipped down her cheeks. Arthur brought her into his arms and held onto her tightly. Cobb walked over to Eames and put a hand on his shoulder. The man was still foolhardily trying to revive his lifeless sweetheart. Eames ignored Cobb and his silent 'It's time to let go'. Suddenly Cole's back arched off the floor as an unstable, unnatural sounding, breath entered her body. Eames held her in his arms as she relaxed again. Her eyes still would not open. All of them watched her, waiting for her to wake up.

"Wake up Cole," Eames begged. "C'mon open your eyes baby. Cole? Wake up!"

"Arthur call the healer," Cobb said in a hushed voice. "We should take her to her room."

Eames scooped her up and followed them out of the library. He carefully placed her in her bed and pulled the covers around her. The healer arrived quickly, luckily she was always close by and willing to help old friends. They explained what had happened and waited impatiently for her verdict.

Eames began to pull at strings on his jacket. The healer moved around Cole and took in everything. Finally she turned to them and gave them her notions.

"Well it seems that some of the poison got into her system. It wasn't enough to kill her, obviously. Eames I believe that is credited to you."

"So why won't she wake?" asked Ariadne.

"Enough poison got in to send her into a kind of deep sleep. Almost like a coma." The healer looked back at Cole and then back to them. "I'm not sure where her mind is right now though. She may be in a limbo or she could be stuck in the previous dream."

"Can we go in and get her?" Arthur questioned.

She shook her head. "It would be very dangerous. In this state I have no idea what her mind is like. It could range from calm and normal to hectic and very unhealthy. So what I am going to do is set up an IV that will keep her alive and slowly decrease the poison in her system. I also have herbs and drafts that might help."

"How long will it take?" Eames asked pulling a long string out. He probably shouldn't have done that. The whole right bottom of his jacket was now uneven.

"Months. Maybe even a year. I can't be sure…"

"No you have to be sure!" He hadn't meant to snap at her but he couldn't lose Cole for a year maybe more. "Please," he said more gently. "She can't stay like this."

"I'll do what I can Eames." The healer asked everyone to leave while she set up the IV. They left her to work and gathered in the family room.

"All of you should go home," Eames said in a low tone. "I'll deal with the cops and Alan."

"Eames we can't let you take this on alone," Arthur said. Eames looked at him a little surprised. "What? I care about you and Cole."

"I appreciate it Arthur mate but I think I have to tackle this one by myself." They all looked at him concerned. "Really everything will be fine."

While the healer worked Eames made a call to the authorities and told them that they had gotten Cole back. The cops came over to the house to get the story. While at the house, one of the police men got a call that the decoy van had been caught and the criminals arrested. The police then went and checked the bodies around the house and in the library. They identified one of the bodies as Vlad, the head of the operation.

The cops took the one Eames left alive with them as they left the house. Now Eames had to make the call to Alan. He told him everything and reassured him that there was no need to rush home. He assured him that the healer would take care of things and that everything would be fine.

Later that night the rest of the team said their goodbyes, promising to check in every once in a while. Eames walked slowly up to her room. As he entered the healer was rubbing crushed herbs onto Cole's temples and forehead. He sat on the couch and watched her finish.

"Thank you for everything," Eames said as she wiped her hands.

"You love her a lot hu?" Eames didn't have to say anything. She could see it in his expression. "I'm doing all I can for her. The herbs should help relax her mind so that whatever is going on in there won't be too bad."

He nodded. She let herself out after telling him she would be back tomorrow. Eames lay down next to Cole and ran his fingers through her hair. He began to wonder what was going on inside her head. Was it hell or was everything alright? Was she alright? He found himself wishing that this was some kind of fairytale and that a kiss was all it took to wake her.

"Baby please don't leave me. Oh God please don't go," he whispered to her. "Cole…wake up."

**AN: So that last line is one of my favorites. I love the way Tom Hardy sounds when he says "Baby please don't leave me..." It's from a shoe commercial of all things. If you want to hear it go to Fuck Yeah Tom Hardy. You might have to search a little but you'll get to see some amazing picx of him during your search =)**


	44. Chapter 44

Eames woke with a start. He had fallen asleep in a chair by her bed. He had been holding her hand the entire time. Cole was now gripping his hand. Eames looked to her still face and back to her bone crushing grip.

"Sky! Sky get in here," he called. The healer came rushing in.

"What's wrong?"

"She has an iron grip on my hand. Something is happening in there."

Sky knelt by Cole on the bed. She took out a small bottle and sprinkled some on Cole's forehead. She rubbed it in with her thumbs and pressed it down to her temples. Cole's grip started to loosen. Eames's hand was set free. He flexed is aching fingers trying to get the feeling back.

"I need to go in and get her," he said with a final tone to his voice.

Sky looked at him dumbfounded. "Are you an idiot? I've told you Eames it is dangerous!"

"She could be in trouble! She needs me Sky!" The woman ignored him as she moved to check the IV. "She cried the other day. Are you really telling me that I can't go in there to help her? She is alive in there!"

"I know that!" Sky sighed. "Look the crying and the iron grip she had on you happens sometimes. Coma patients have that happen. They speak sometimes or even show REM. That doesn't mean you can go in there and expect everything to be fine. There is less chance that things will be calm and collected."

"She's not in a regular kind of coma. I can get her out."

"I said no. Now look I have to leave. Can I trust you? Will you promise to not do anything stupid? Or do I have to take you away from her?"

"No. I'll be fine."

"Eames."

"Go Sky. I'll just try and go back to sleep." He scooted down in the chair to get comfortable. He took Cole's hand in his again and closed his eyes. Sky closed the door behind her and made her way out. Eames listened for the front door to close and lock. The second he knew she was gone he got up and went to get the PASIV machine. Thank God Arthur left one behind.

He brought it back up to the room and set it up on the table by her bed. Eames removed Sky's IV and hooked Cole up. He got his own IV and sat down. He put the needle into his wrist and set the time.

"I'm coming Cole." He pressed a kiss to her hand and then pushed the plunger down.

"Another tree fell," Marty said sitting across from Cole. "Half the forest is dying. What's going on?"

"I don't know," she said looking out the window. "Maybe they are dying because I am dying."

"I don't want you to die." Cole looked at her brother and smiled.

"You and me both," she said with a little laugh. "I didn't get to tell him I love him. I want to say it to him one more time at least."

"He knows." Cole smiled at Marty again. He smiled back and then stood from his seat. Cole was left alone. She sat in the ledge on the window and watched as more of the garden began to die as well. She let her eyes slip closed, the dim sunlight illuminating WAKE UP on her eyelids.

Suddenly everything changed. Cole's eyes flew open as she felt a weight press on her mind. Someone else was in her head. Was she still dreaming? Was she still being kept in the dream state? She got up and began to head for the front door. Her parents and Marty were standing outside looking towards the beach.

"Someone is here," said her mother.

"It's alright," Cole said signaling for them to stay there. "I'll check it out."

Cole made her way towards the sand. She could see a shape coming out of the water. She closed her eyes and felt around her mind. The other subconscious felt so familiar to her but she couldn't put her finger on it. She opened her eyes again to see the figure getting closer.

"Cole!" That voice.

"Eames?"

Without a second thought they ran for each other. Cole jumped into Eames's open arms. He held her close and took her touch and scent in. His wet clothing stuck to him as Cole pushed herself into him. He set her down and looked at her, a smile passing through his eyes. Eames took her face between his hands and kissed her.

"I love you so much," she said between kisses.

"I shouldn't have let you go," he responded in a raspy voice.

"Eames," she said pulling back. "I think I'm dying."

"What makes you say that," he said still trying to kiss her.

"Everything is dying and falling apart."

He pulled away and looked around him. "No the poison is wearing off. You're not dying. The healer's drafts and IV are getting rid of the poison in your system."

"Oh thank God." He smiled at her. "How do we get out?"

"We generate some kind of kick."

"I tried killing myself. I won't work."

"It will. Now that the poison is leaving your system it will work now."

They walked through the decaying woods until they found a cliff. Holding each other's hand they leapt together.

His eyes opened to Cole's room. He unhooked himself and looked over to her. Her eyes were still closed. Panic set into his chest. It hadn't worked. He took the needle out of her wrist and heard her moan. He sat by her as she began to stretch. It had worked after all. Her eyes opened to see him. She smiled and put a hand on his cheek.

"I told you I'd be here when you woke up." Her smile grew as he leaned down to kiss her.


	45. Chapter 45

**AN: If any of you are having trouble finding that shoe commercial I mentioned….I FOUND IT! Or well I found the audio at least. **

**So if you go to Fuck Yeah Tom Hardy and go to pg 58 you'll find it there. =D **

**Five years later: **

The wedding was beautiful. Notre Dame, already exquisite, was enchanting with the decorations and company within. The cathedral was filled with friends and family, flowers were everywhere, and everyone was precisely in place. The bride looked beautiful and the groom looked exceedingly happy.

"I don't think I've ever seen him show so much emotion," Eames said observing Arthur. The most exquisite smile graced his features as he waited patiently for his bride.

"I love weddings," Yusuf said next to him. His voice had a weepy tone to it. Eames pulled out a tissue and handed it to the man.

A big smile passed over Eames's own features when he saw Cole and the other bride's maids walking down the aisle. She smiled back shyly and took her place by the alter. They were followed by the flower girl, Phillipa, and the ring bearer, James. It was now Ariadne's turn to walk down the aisle. Because her parents were unable to join in the festivities, Cobb proudly gave her away.

The whole ceremony went by in a flash. Before they all knew it they were at the reception and then seeing the happy couple off.

"I'll get us a taxi," Cole said. She began to hail one when Eames stopped her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just thought maybe we could walk."

"Okay. That's fine," she said with a smile. She linked her arm with his and hugged herself close to him. As they walked Eames began to think. A whole world of thoughts were evolving in his mind. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Are you okay?"

"Fine poppet."

"What are you thinking about?"

"You." Her eyes lit up as a little blush came to her face. Cole moved her arm so she could hold his hand. With their fingers laced together Eames maneuvered his arm so that it draped over her shoulders. Her arm came up across her chest creating a gap between them for her to fill in. She leaned into him fitting perfectly.

With her leaning against him Eames found it harder to concentrate on one thought. He tried to clear his mind and really think about what he wanted to do. The memory of Arthur's bachelor party came clearly.

"Congrats Arthur," he had said. They clinked their beer bottles together and took long swigs.

"I'm so happy Ariadne and I are getting married."

"So are we all." Eames looked over to see Yusuf with a lamp shade on his head, laughing loudly with the other men.

"You should marry her," Arthur said after finishing off his beer and grabbing another.

"You want me to marry Ari? Getting cold feet are we?" he asked with a smirk.

"No you idiot." Arthur hiccupped and Eames laughed. It was very rare that Arthur got dumb drunk. It always pleased Eames to see that Arthur was infact human and not some kind of humorless life form. "I mean you should marry Cole."

"I think one of us tying the knot is enough for now."

"You'll regret it if you don't." Eames stayed quiet. "Marry Cole, Eames. Or become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone."

Eames looked at the man out of the corner of his eye. "You need to stop hanging around Cobb so much."

Arthur laughed it off and went off a new tangent. Eames had sat there while Arthur rambled on. Marry Cole. What an idea that was. It wasn't a bad one. They did really love each other and they had been working together for two years now. Sure they always frustrated each other but that was half the fun. He could marry Cole, he'd like to marry Cole.

"Eames?" He came out of his inner world and realized she had been speaking to him. "Did you hear me?"

"Sorry Cole. I was lost in thought. What were you saying?"

"Oh just that when we get back to Mombasa we need to look at the Draco job. Kirk is sending us some more information and I still need to get the mannerisms of his mistress."

"Oh right. The Draco job of course." Eames loved working with Cole. Especially since she was everything wrapped up in one. Getting into trouble and doing dangerous jobs had brought them some excitement unlike the Polo matches and tea with the old hags.

"Eames is something going on?" He looked down at her while shoving his free hand into his jacket pocket. "You seem miles away."

He hesitated for a moment. "Do you love me?"

"Hmm I don't know. That's a tough one." Eames gave her a look. She smiled and laughed a little. "You know I do."

"You know I would do anything for you."

"You proved that many times over. What's going on…"

"Ariadne and Arthur looked so happy today. They will get to have each other for the rest of their lives. Seeing them has made me realize something." Eames stopped walking stopping Cole along with him. They had somehow reached Pont Neuf. Eames pulled Cole aside into one of the cups of the bridge. Ahead of them was the Eiffel Tower and the city. Half the sky was a brilliant blue while the other half was orange , red, and purple.

"What did you realize?" He was now standing in front of her. He was fiddling with something in his jacket pocket.

"That I was jealous of Fischer, that you are my match, that I'll never find someone better, that I need you madly, that we should get married," he said in one long breath.

"What was that last part?" Cole was sure she heard…but had she? Eames looked a little frustrated with himself. He wanted to do this perfectly but it was turning out to be a mess. "Did you just say…"

Before she could finish he took out what was in his pocket. A little wooden box lay in the palm of his hand. Cole's eyes went wide and she couldn't stop herself from putting a hand to her mouth. This way the gasp wouldn't be too noticeable.

"I know that must be the worst proposal you've heard but…" He opened the little wooden box. The ring inside was an antique setting with a rose shape. The rose was studded with aquamarine stones and diamonds.

"Oh my God. Eames," she said in a breathy voice.

"Nicole Alexandra Hareton the fourth…" She laughed a little making him smile. "Will you…"

"In a heartbeat," she replied before he could finish. He laughed and took the ring from the box. His heart thumped inside his chest while he placed the ring on her hand. Cole's heart was leaping, probably in time with is, everywhere. She tugged him by the jacket close to her and kissed him. He pushed her against the wall of the little cup they were standing in, resting a hand on the ledge for balance.

"You've made me the happiest woman," she said breaking the kiss.

"I figured I should make you an honest one at least," he answered with a devilish smirk. Cole hit his chest as he laughed. "I love you so much Cole," he said while tucking her hair behind and ear.

"I love you too Eames."

**Fin. **


	46. Chapter 46

**Soundtrack: **

Half Remembered Dream (Hans Zimmer) (Ch 2) – First shared dream, seeing mother for first time

Dawn (Pride & Prejudice) (CH 3) – Shared dream with Ariadne, Cole making her first building

Radical Notion (Hans Zimmer) (Ch 5) – Shared dream with Arthur, changing the building, strangled

Predator (Collide Remix) (Ch 6) – Cole dancing in Eames's arms, trying to get her home

Beautiful, Dirty, Rich (Lady Gaga) (Ch 6) – Cole on the table dancing, Eames trying to get her down

The Death & Resurrection Show (Killing Joke) (Ch 9) – Eames and Cole's first fight

Dr. Finkelstein/In the Forest (Nightmare revised) (Ch 10) – Cole locking up mother

Let It Rock (Kevin Rudolf) (Ch 10)—Cole victory dance after locking up mother

Firework (Katy Perry) (Ch 11) – Eames and Cole dance at the party

Fall Fest (Tomandandy) (Ch 13) – Cathy/Heathcliff dream

Candy Man (Christina Aguilera) (Ch 14) – Cole singing about Eames

Je T'aime (Kelly Sweet) (Ch 14) – Music box tune

Fever (Peggy Lee) (Ch 15)—Cole and Eames fight, kissing Eames

Misery (Maroon 5) (Ch 16) – Cole's revenge dream inspiration

That's How You Know (Amy Adams) (Ch 18) – Can you see Ariadne, Arthur, and Cobb singing this to Eames? I can…and it's awesome

Any Other Name (L'Orchestra) (Ch 23) – Cole taking care of Eames when he is sick

Fever (Adam Lambert) (Ch 24) – Cole realizing she likes Eames

E.T. (Katy Perry) (Ch 24) – Cole trapped on the couch with Eames

Here with Me (Michelle Branch) (Ch 26) – When Eames is gone and Cole misses him and wants him to come back

Truly Madly Deeply (Savage Garden) (Ch 27) – Cole tells Eames she missed him, kiss in the bathroom, telling Eames "I love you"

Water Shock (Tomandandy) (Ch 29) – Dream racing with Arthur

I'm Shipping Up To Boston (Dropkick Murphys) (Ch 29) – Cole and Ariadne running from intruder, Disneyland

Fidelity (Regina Spektor) (Ch 31) – Cole's words to Eames

Georgiana & Can't Slow Down (Pride & Prejudice) (Ch 35) – To give the Polo match and tea with the hags the fancy element it needs

Secret (Maroon 5) (Ch 35) – Eames/Cole makeout, woman walks in on them

Stay (Hurts) (Ch 36) – Cole saying goodbye to Eames at the airport

Time (Hans Zimmer) (Ch 36) – Car ride home from airport, Kat watching Cole

I Don't Love You (MCR) (Ch 36) – The way Cole is feeling about Eames

Goodbye My Lover (James Blunt) (Ch 38) – Eames sitting in a casino, girl on his arm, thinking about Cole, missing her.

Time Isn't Healing (Tom Felton) (Ch 38) – Eames back in Mombasa thinking about Cole, looking at the picture

Til' I get over you (Michelle Branch) (Ch 39)—Cole in her father's study spinning around and talking to Eames on the phone

Take It All (Marion Cotillard) (Ch 39) – Cole's tortured dream

Mombasa (Hans Zimmer) (Ch 40-41) – Cole running from intruders, fight with the intruders, paradox

Queen of the Damned (The Queen of the Damned) (Ch 41) – News cast, watching Cole get kidnapped

Long Live Jesse (The Queen of the Damned) (Ch 42) – Eames/Cole reunion in the fort

A really good cloak (Crash soundtrack) (Ch 43) – The team searches for Cole, finds her "dead", finds that she is actually alive, coma

Time (Hans Zimmer wrm remix) (Ch 44) – Eames comes for Cole in limbo

I'll Stand By You (Glee version) (Ch 45) – Arthur/Ariadne wedding

Stars & Butterflies (Pride & Prejudice) (Ch 45) – Eames proposes

I will posses your heart (Death Cab for Cutie) – Eames's song

Sleepwalker (Adam Lambert) – Cole's song

Love Song Requiem (Taking Back Yesterday) – Cole and Eames's theme song

(cheesy songs for Cole and Eames)

Halo (Beyonce)

Stuttering (Friday Night Boys)

I'll hold my breath (Ellie Goulding)

Sweet Dreams (Beyonce)

**AN: Thanks everyone for everything! You know I love and appreciate you all! So sad this story came to an end. But I am thinking about writing another Inception tid bit. I was thinking of like a boarding school thing, catch them when they are young. Have them all angsty and deal with teenage drama. Or I was thinking about creating a sister for Arthur or something…whatever it is will involve Eames love and the rest of the crew**

**Love your humble narrator, **

**Bess **


End file.
